Lessons of the Heart
by Nollie Marie
Summary: AH Edward is a self-center semi-playboy who needs a huge wake-up call about life, which he gets right away when his sister drags him w/ her on one of her charity rounds through hospitals where he meets Bella Swan, who just may be dying. Read & Review plez
1. Prologue: Bruises

**So I decided that I wanted something really heart felt, especially since I am just about wrapping up **_**Re-Hitched**_** and I had this idea twirling in my head for a while. So after some research (yes, I actually did some research for this story, shocking isn't it?) I decided to post this story...It's different from my other stories so…enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: located on my profile**

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Prologue

**Bruises**

_Bella's POV_

At first, I thought I was just getting a little cold. I had a slight fever for a few days and have been having some chills and night sweats for awhile. I wasn't sleeping well and I had a headache, probably from the lack of sleep I was getting. It took a lot of energy just to get up in the morning and go to school. My father just thought that I was being a normal teenager and hated going to school. Sure I hated school, but it was because I already knew the lectures, being way more advanced than all the others in the classroom—teachers excluded. I wasn't really eating a lot, and sometimes the thought of food made me want to run to the bathroom…or the sink, considering I wasn't entirely sure if I could run upstairs at with the fatigue that I had was having. And since I wasn't really eating, I was losing a lot of weight, looking thinner than ever.

Finally, after about three weeks of this "cold" not going away, I decided to go to see a doctor. The only doctor in town was Dr. Carter. He was an elderly guy, who had probably seen every Forks resident since the early 1950s, so he wasn't entirely a stranger to me as I wasn't a stranger to him either. I had on many occasions had to visit Dr. Carter since I was born, mostly because of me being clumsy and hurting myself frequently. Would you be surprised if I said I had my own seat in the waiting room? Well, I do, since Mrs. Carter, Dr. Carter's wife, had decided to label one of the plastic chairs I always occupied.

There wasn't anyone in Dr. Carter's waiting room the day I decided to visit the doctor, so I didn't have to wait very long to see the good doctor. He took vital signs: my weight, temperature, pulse, and counted the breaths I breathed, which were shallow and slow. I told him that I had been sick for awhile when he asked me why I was there.

"Hmm," he said, and continued to ask me questions as he went to start a physical.

He palpated my lymph nodes at arm pits and frowned slightly. He continued the physical, palpating my stomach. I flinched at some of the pain I felt when Dr. Carter raised my leg and bent the knee.

"Pain?" he asked.

"Sort of," I said.

"Hmm," he said before he rolled up my jean legging. "Bella, where did you get these bruises?"

I raised my head slightly and saw that there were a few bruises on my leg. It was fairly common for me to have bruises since I was clumsy, but normally I would remember getting them.

"I don't know," I said. "I have always had bruises, Doc. You know me, can't walk across a flat surface without making contact with it outside my shoes."

"Hmm," went the doctor. Did I forget to mention that Dr. Carter was a man of many little words? And that he liked to go "hmm" when he was thinking? Yeah, after awhile the "hmms" do get on people's nerves.

He continued the physical before sitting back down on the swivel chair.

"So, doc, can you tell me what's up?"

"No," he said, writing quickly within my file. "Bella, I'm going to ask that you have some blood work done."

I groaned. Dr. Carter looked up from writing, a sad smile playing around his lips.

"I know that you say you pass out at the _smell_ of blood, but you _need_ these tests done, Bella," he said. "Just bring clothes pins or something when you get the blood work done so you won't have to smell your blood."

Needless to say, I still managed to pass out when Mrs. Carter did my blood work the following day. A week later, with my aching, mild fever, and all the other signs and symptoms remaining, I got a call from Dr. Carter to come into his office…and to bring my father.

I was nervous about what Dr. Carter found in my blood that he had me bring my busy father in with me. I was sitting on the exam table, the paper sheet crinkling under my butt when Dr. Carter came in with my file.

He took my vitals again before saying as he sat down in the swivel chair before me.

"Bella, I had your father come in today because we received your blood results, and since you are still a minor," Dr. Carter said.

"Doc, can we get on with this?" Charlie said. He had other things to worry about, it seemed. "Bella has been coming to you on her own since she was able to drive, so what am I needed here for?"

"It seems Bella has a high level of white blood cells," Dr. Carter said.

I sat up straighter.

"That means I'm sick, right?" I said. "I'm taking biology and I know that white blood cells are needed to fight an infection."

"Yes, Bella, their main purpose is to fight off foreign bodies in you, only…there is nothing else within your blood work that suggested that you have an infection which would cause your white blood cells to be so high and the low amount of platelets and red blood cells."

I felt a chill go through my body.

"Doc, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Charlie said, leaning off the wall.

"Wait, what is he suggesting, Dad?" I said, looking at Charlie.

"Bella," Dr. Carter said. I looked at him. "I'm afraid that you may have…well, that you may have leukemia, Bella."

I felt my entire world pull to a slow, agonizing stop.

"I want to run one more test just to be 100 percent positive of my diagnoses, but the results may turn up the same," Dr. Carter said to me before turning to my father. "Mr. Swan, you'll need to bring Bella to Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center as soon as you can. They'll be able to give the final diagnoses and start the treatment for Bella."

Leukemia? My mind wasn't processing it as Dr. Carter told Charlie that he was forwarding my entire file to the oncology physician at the cancer center in Seattle.

Cancer? Oh God! I was only seventeen! I was supposed to go to college in a year! I was supposed to…supposed to…

"Thank you, Dr. Carter," Charlie said, shaking hands with the doctor I knew all my life.

"I'm so sorry," Dr. Carter whispered.

I slowly got off the table, shaky on my weak knees.

"Good luck, Bella," Dr. Carter said, giving me a smile that was as weak as my knees.

I nodded and headed out to the cruiser. As soon as I was in the front seat, Charlie started making plans right away. The he was going to bring me to the cancer center Dr. Carter told us about and that he needed to call my mother.

But my mind was still focused on one thing: I was dying from cancer.

- . - . - . - . - A week later - . - . - . - . -

I felt so alone here in Seattle. My father was of course here, but I felt so…I wasn't entirely sure. The fact that I had cancer still hadn't sunk in. Maybe that was why I was feeling so strange, like everything was a horrible dream. The nurse, Jennifer, was a nice lady, showing me, Charlie and Renee—my mother—around the Center.

My mother was a trooper, constantly telling me whenever she got the chance that I was going to fight this cancer, but I could tell that it was taking a toll on her normally happy, childish demeanor. My father was as emotionless as he always was so I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

We had just rounded the corner of their leukemia section when I got to meet physician, Dr. Julia Harper. She was smiling when she greeted me by first name. She started with an introduction of what she specialized in, which was pediatric oncology and hematology. After giving some background, Dr. Harper started to tell Charlie, Renee and I about the treatments I was to go through. It all started with biopsy of my bone marrow from my hip bone to help diagnose each type of leukemia I had, and then the start my chemotherapy sessions. If the chemotherapy didn't work, there were other treatments of which included bone marrow transplants and stem cell transplants. Normally they do the stem cell transplant as a last resort if the cancer didn't go into remission.

"Any questions?" Dr. Harper asked.

"Where am I going to be staying?" I asked bluntly. "There aren't really rooms here."

"Considering that your defense system is going to be basically stripped, we can't have you exposed to viruses and germs, so we have special rooms here at the center for the few times we do chemotherapy. A few days afterward, we'll transport you to the local hospital where you'll be staying in a sterile environment," Dr. Harper said. "If your cancer goes into remission and we say that your immune system is able to defend yourself, then you can go home."

I frowned at the part of having to stay at the hospital. I hated hospitals.

"Oh, Bella, we'll decorate your room so that it doesn't look like a hospital," Renee said, being optimistic as always.

"Yeah, sure," I said, doubting that even with my mother's touches the hospital room would always remain looking like a hospital room instead of my bed room.

Dr. Harper was about to say something when there was a loud "HEY, DOCTOR H!" yelled from behind us.

I turned to see a girl smiling and waving as she ran towards us.

"Mary Alice Brandon, what are you doing here?" Dr. Harper said, smiling as she welcomed the new girl with a hug.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked around. The nurse, Jennifer, was smiling at the two hugging people, while my parents were looking thoughtful.

"I'm doing one of my charity tours of local hospitals, and I decided to stop by and see my godmother," the girl said.

"Alice, I want you to meet my new patient, Bella Swan," Dr. Harper said, looking at me. "Bella, I want you to meet my god-daughter, Alice. You'll see her around a lot here."

"Hi," I said.

The girl smiled. "Hi Bella," she greeted me before saying, "I have a feeling we're going to be good friends."

_Right_, I thought. Meanwhile, I had no idea what I was feeling. My life was suddenly upside down and I had no idea what to do.

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**I'm really looking forward to writing this story. This story isn't at all like my other stories. I'm doing as much research as I can on leukemia. I don't want to make light of the disease, so the more the research, the better. Anyway tell me what you think of what you've read so far. And trust me, this story is going to be a really heart-felt story which I think I'm long over due on.**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS- Special thanks to Project Team Beta for editing this. I owe them a dozen cookies or so. :)**


	2. Chapter One: Clue In

Now, a few people asked me if this story is going to be an Edward and Bella fic…I can tell you that is will be a Edward and Bella story. I'm not entire sure if it will end up…a happy one though…it's early and I have now two ends that could possibly happen. So just want and see. But I can say that there will be some funny moments…think…_Patch Adams_ like humor…

Anyways, it was really touching to hear about other people stories about love ones that dealt with leukemia. For those who don't know, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (one of my research sites), approximately 21,710 deaths within the US will be due to leukemia…in just 2008 alone. That means…_about_ 60 deaths **a day** due to leukemia…Something to think about, huh…

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

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Chapter One

**Clue in**

_Edward's POV_

I groaned as I heard the phone ring. It was loud and shrilly and was very annoying as it caused a sharp pain run through my entire head at each "RING!" I stuffed my head under my pillow in hope to muffle the sounds but all it did was echo more in my head.

"Oh God, _shut up_," I muttered before swinging the pillow at the night stand.

There was a large crash and I'm pretty sure I hit the lamp along with hitting the phone off its cradle. Thankfully the phone stopped ringing, meaning that the caller finally got the message.

Sadly, the caller it seems to have been my sister and she doesn't give up easily. Considering I heard the familar message of the voice mail before hearing her voice.

"Edward Antony Masen! Get you're sorry ass out of your bed and pick up the damn phone before I break down your door. _Then_ you'll be sorry!"

I groaned and stuffed my head under the pillow.

"Fine, you asked for it."

And with a click, she hung up which caused the answering machine to start deep. Great, the phone stops ringing but now the answer machine was causing my head to hurt now.

There was a loud bang come from the living room. And it seems that my sister found the hidden key under the potted bush outside my door.

"Alice," I moaned when she opened the curtains in the bedroom, letting in light.

"You asked for it by not picking up the phone," she said.

"What are you doing here, Alice?" I asked, decided to go get two aspirin. My head felt like it was about to spilt open.

"I'm here on the behalf of the Cullen family," she said, walking into the bathroom.

"You mean, on the behalf of Carlisle and Esme?" I asked, downing two aspirin and three glasses of water. I was parched.

"No, the Cullen family," Alice said. "We may be adopted, Edward, but we do make up the Cullen family clan."

"No that just means we're the charity cases," I said.

"Excuse me," Alice said, managing to grab hold of my ear.

"Ow! Ow! Alice! That's my ear!"

She pulled on it again, bring me closer to her.

"Now listen to me Edward and listen to me good because I am _not _repeating myself," she said.

"I'll listen to you better if you let go of my ear!"

She let go of my ear. I rubbed it as I turned to face her.

"Now, as I said, listen to me because this is important," she said.

"Yeah, ear pulling worthy," I muttered under my breath.

She pretended not to hear me as she said, "After what was printed in today's paper, it was brought to our attention that you are making amuck of the Cullen name. And we're not happy to see our good name smeared with your…actions."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What was printed in today's paper?" I asked, curious.

"Since when did you read the paper?" Alice asked as I went to get it from my welcome mat outside my flat.

"Since my name has been printed in it," I said, opening it to the entertainment section.

_Another wild night for Masen  
Jordan Hawk,  
Entertainment Reporter_

_Edward A. Masen, 19, continues to be his natural wild playboy self as he was spotted at Joshua Taylor's party in downtown Seattle last night, sucking lips and necking on more than one girl's neck and lips. But later, after a few drinks, got onto one of the tables and start to strip, managing to get only his pants unbuckled before his frat brother, Emmett McCarty,21, who was at the party with his long term girlfriend and model, Rosalie Hale,22, pulled Masen off the table and drove him home._

_Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the multibillionaire from old money and new money has he continues to practice and dabble in the stock market, had this to say about his adopted son's behavior: "I'm very disappointed in Edward," Dr. Cullen said. "My wife and I have raised our kids to be more respectful. This behavior will not be tolerated."_

_Meanwhile, while one of the Cullen heirs was having a wild night, the other, Mary Alice, 20, was seen downtown Seattle at a charity function to raise money for cancer research. Maybe it's time for Masen to take a page out of the Angelic Alice's book._

I rolled my eyes and threw the paper down on the bed, see that I some how managed to wander back into my bedroom.

"Angelic Alice?" I asked Alice.

"Shut up, I can't control what they call me…even though it is true in this case—but that isn't the point. The point is that you're embarrassing the family name."

"I am not," I said.

"Excuse me? You were caught stripping from a table top!" Alice said.

"It was just my shirt."

"If Emmett didn't stop you," Alice pointed out. "Seriously Edward, you need to stop acting like this playboy you are. I know for a fact that you are still pure as the drive snow…okay not totally pure but still you're a vir—"

I hissed at Alice as went to say the 'V' word. It was a hit against my ego to hear that I could manage to get to third but never score.

"What?" Alice said innocently. "Can't handle the fact you're a…virgin?" She quickly snuck in the "virgin" before I could say anything.

I growled at her, glaring.

"Seriously, put away the playboy act Edward, it's getting old," Alice said, putting her hands on her hips.

I rolled my eyes.

"Anyways," Alice said, going to my closet. "Go get dressed."

And then she threw a pair of clean jeans and a shirt at me. I managed to catch the jeans in my hands but the shirt ended up smacking me in the face.

"Sorry," Alice said, smiling sweetly when I peeled the shirt away to glare at her.

"Alice what ever you have planned for me, just cancel it right this minute," I said.

- . - . - . - . - . - Two Hours Later - . - . - . - . - . -

"Oh perk up Edward or you're going to scare the kids away," Alice said, using fingers to push my lips into a smile.

I pulled away from my sister.

"I'm too hot to scare away kids," I said.

Alice sighed, shaking her head as the elevator opened. I could right away smell the sterile scent of a hospital as soon as we stepped out of the elevator.

"Well, well, it's Ms. Brandon!" one of the nurses behind the nurses station before us. "This is your second time in a week to visit us."

Alice smiled as she signed in at the counter. "I have something for little Theresa."

"Oh, Theresa was asking if you were going to come in. You spoil her, Ms. Brandon."

"She's a good girl," Alice said. "Oh, Sarah, this is my brother, Edward. He's going to be coming with on my next few visits. Sign in Edward."

I sighed and I leaned forward and signed in.

The nurse smiled at me as I straightened up, dropping the pen. "Oh, the children will be happy to see a new face. We don't get many visitors up here."

"Right," I said. I wondered why, hospitals meant death, something that almost every was scared of.

"See you later, Sarah!" Alice said before grabbing hold on my hand and heading down one of the hallways.

"Alice, slow down," I said, stumbling as she yanked me.

She came to a stop suddenly and stared into one of the rooms. I turned to see what she was looking at.

In the hospital bed was a tiny little girl. I felt my heart squeeze at the sight of how fragile she looked. She was so pale and tiny. She had a mixture of scared and sadness on her face as the nurse checked the IV feed.

"Oh, Zoë," Alice whispered, putting her nose against the glass.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked, watching as the nurse in the room round the other side of the bed to write something down in the girl's charts, probably vital signs.

"She has an aggressive brain tumor," Alice whispered. "She's only three."

I felt a chill run down my spine. The nurse stepped out of the room then, a soft sad smile on her face for Alice.

"Hi Alice," she said, hugging Alice.

"Oh, Kara, was wrong with Zoë?" Alice asked.

"Nothing, she just had her fourth round of chemotherapy about four days ago," the nurse said. "She's just tired right now. You understand the effects of chemo. I'm pretty sure she'll be happy if you visited her."

"Don't even have to ask," Alice said, skipping towards the sliding door.

Alice just merely sat down on the bed and I could see a visible difference in the girl. There was a smile on the girl's face and her mouth started to move quickly, telling Alice a story or something.

The nurse besides me sighed and I turned to see that she had a smile on her face.

"Your sister is an angel here," she said, her eyes still on Alice and the girl. "You don't know how many kids look forward to her visits."

I looked back at Zoë and saw that she was smiling hugely as Alice waved her arms in the air, telling a story or something.

"Yeah, she is," I said, wanting desperately to get away from here.

"Do you want to a tour of the ward?" Nurse Kara asked, looking at me.

"Uh..." was all I could think.

"Come on, follow me," she said, motioning forward.

With one last look at Alice and the now slightly giggling girl, I followed her. She led me towards the nurses' station where three women, including Sarah from earlier, and one male were all at.

"Hey, Jasper, your girl brought a guest this time," Kara said, stepping behind the desk, smiling.

The male turned and looked me directly in the eye.

"You must be Edward," the guy said, closing a chart and putting it onto a rack of charts.

"Yeah, that's me," I said, offering him my hand. "Edward Masen, the sinful brother of the Angelic Alice."

The guy raised an eyebrow as he shook my hand. Whoa, he had a grip.

"Jasper Whitlock," he said, "boyfriend of your sister."

Whoa…wait…boyfriend?!

Just then, like she was called upon, Alice appeared beside me, gushing, "Oh I felt so bad not having a new bandanna for Zoë!"

The nurses, not including Jasper who had his own way of cheering up my sister by putting his arm around her shoulders, all told Alice that the fact she was here brightened Zoë's day.

"Edward, I see you meet Jasper," Alice said, looking at me with a smile.

I saw out of the corner of my eyes all the female nurses gathered close, watching Alice, Jasper, and I closely.

"Yeah, I did," I said, looking up at Jasper. Did I forget to mention that Jasper was six feet plus, gaining about three inches or so higher than I was and a good plus foot on Alice?

"We meet two years ago when he just came on board as one of the RNs here," Alice said.

I nodded and leaned onto the nurses' station when I saw that Alice and the guy nurse were looking lovely-dovey at each other. I wondered if Carlisle and Esme knew about Alice's boyfriend. I bet they did and I bet that they just _love_ Jasper.

Sighing, I turned my head to look around at little nurses' station, passing over the nurses who decided to get to work. I had just passed over the girl standing before one of the elderly nurses still standing when I suddenly snapped my eyes back to her.

She wasn't exactly the sexiest female in the entire world but there was something about her that kept me drawn to her. She was very pale, as pale as the little Zoë, and thin. She had deep brown hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, leaving her neck exposed for my eyes to drift down. She was wearing a sweatshirt with "Forks High School" printed over the front and jeans. But what really caught my attention were her brown eyes.

Even with her emotionless face, her eyes were brimming with sadness. I almost went over to her but before I had the chance to register anything, she turned and followed the nurse out of view.

I shook my head. She was probably visiting one of the children here, that would explain her sadden eyes.

"Okay, Edward, we still have other kiddies to visit," Alice said, jumping onto my back.

I gagged as Alice wrapped her arms around me. Jasper laughed at Alice's behavior and at the look at on my face.

"God, can you be any more childish Alice?" I asked her as I walked by the smiling nurses.

"Yeap, now go…that way," she said, yanking on my hair as if it was rains.

I held in the curse as I went in the direction that Alice wanted me to go in, silently wondering when I was going to be able to leave and pushing the memory of sad eyes out of my mind.

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I don't really have anything for a post-chapter AN, just asking for you to review like I normally do I guess.

For those who have seen the movie, don't spoil me about it yet, I'm going to see it tomorrow and I want to be as spoiled free. As soon as I've seen it, I'll blog about it on my website and you guys can tell me what you think of it. Again, **PLEASE DON'T**!

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS—again working on the soundtrack, but I do have a song posted that as soon as I remembered it, I knew it was great for the story so go check it out.

PPS—I'm also working on like some sort of remembrance wall or something "Lessons of the Heart" page for those who have died of Cancer. It's the least I can do…


	3. Chapter Two: New World

I don't really have much of a pre-chapter AN, except another statistic for you, provided by Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: In the United States, an estimated 231,461 people currently have leukemia. And in 2008, proximately 44,270 new cases of leukemia are diagnosed in the US.

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

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Chapter Two

**New World**

_Bella's POV_

I had to say good bye to my parents down at the registration. Dad had to go back to Forks, some sort of accident 'happened' and they couldn't function without the Police Chief. And Mum…she claimed that the flight from Phoenix tired her out and that she'll visit me tomorrow. I watched them walk out the front doors of the hospital, wondering if they were ashamed of me.

Or was it something else entirely…

The person who registered me showed me where the children's section of the hospital was and then towards the elevator, where she told me to go to the fourth floor. The top floor I realized when I got into the elevator. Cancer patients on the top floor…I wonder if that was because if someone wanted to die easily and less painful that there was the fact of jumping.

I groaned my teeth. I didn't need to be thinking that. I had other things to be thinking about. Like what was I going to tell my classmates when they realized that I wasn't going to be in class? I sighed, only my father would managed to get the principal, Mr. Greene, to actually allow my classes to be recorded and then sent to me via email. God forbid my illness stop me from graduating.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and I slowly walked into the hallway. I turned around slowly. Well the floor wasn't what I expecting. Instead of the white walls, there were some paintings, giving instead of a sterile hospital a more pleasant…play area feel. I walked forward and peered into the glass that were in front of the elevators. I saw that it was an actually play room of sorts, where parents were on the floors with little babies. I felt a bang in my heart. Just by looking at the babies, one would have never guessed that they were sick, except for the little band around their ankle. I wondered what type of God would let innocent children be so sick.

I turned away from the window and headed in the direction that the sign below the window said the nurses' station was. It wasn't hard to find the station, it was a large square cubicle looking thing in the middle of the room with four hallways branching off of it, one which I just walked through. There was four ladies all gathered together, whispering, as they watch two guy chat, giving each other a stare down it looks like as a short girl joined them.

Sighing, I stepped up to the nurses' station. One of the nurses spotted me and smiled.

"Hi, you must be Isabella Swan," she asked. "Registration called us to let us know you were coming up."

"Uh, yeah," I said, tucking the wrist band under my long sleeves of my sweater, staring at my hand as though it was still there.

"I'm so sorry your parents couldn't come up," the nurse said.

I raised one shoulder in a shrug, a sudden chill trickle down my spin. I fought the need to look around and see who was staring at me.

"Do you have any clothes dear?"

I looked up at the nurse.

"I didn't think about clothes when I was told I would be living in a hospital," I whispered.

The nurse nodded. "I see," she said, eyeing the one bag that was on my shoulder, which felt like a ton but I wasn't about to complain about. "Well, do you want to go see your room?"

I shrugged again. Might as well see where I was going to live until…well…whenever…

"Follow me," she said, leaving the nurses' station and leading down one of the hallways.

My room…well it looked like a hospital room with a bed, heart monitors and a TV. But there some homey touches like a desk against the window and a book shelf, both of which were bare.

"This is your room," the nurse said before confirming what I thought of addition of the desk and shelf. "It's a basic hospital room but we've added a few things to make it more like home." I turned to look at her. I saw her swallow. "We want to you to feel like home when you're here."

I nodded slowly, looking away from her and at the bed, which didn't feel like home. This was flat and low as it could be and the rails were lowered. I never needed railing since I was six when dad decided I was old enough not to have them. The sheets were tucked in nice and tight, leaving it wrinkle free, and I was pretty sure that I could bounce a quarter on it like I saw on a few movies that dealt with the military. My bed at home was messy, hardly made expect when someone was visiting and had to see my room which was never. And I'm pretty sure that I couldn't bounce a quarter on them for the life of me. Then there was crème colored blankets folded at the foot of the bed. I preferred my quilt that grandma swan made me when I was child.

"There is a call button for a nurse, if you need _anything_," the nurse said as I continued to stare at the bed. There was a moment where she was silent before she said, "I'll let you…uh…get settled."

I waited until she closed the door behind her before dropping the one bag on the bed. It bounced once, not even ruining the sheets or blankets.

I felt my bottom lip quiver as I felt the emotions rush in like a huge wave. I felt the hurt, the sadness, the bitterness, and the anger all there. I was hurting physically but also hurting at the fact my own parents weren't even here. My father claims that he had to be there in Forks but in reality it was because he couldn't handle the emotions when he was a complete unemotional person. And my mother couldn't handle the fact that her daughter was sick, she didn't know what to do. When I had gotten sick before I had to take care of myself, sometimes I had to take care of Renee because of her lack of parenting skills. And it hurt that my parents couldn't handle any of this but wanted me to handle it.

I was sad at the possibility that I could be dying. I didn't really have many plans in life but still I couldn't fathom the fact I was dying when I hardly had the chance to experience everything. And I was bitter at that, bitter to the entire world that couldn't understand what I was feeling. And my classmates all sent me messages on my phone, wondering why I wasn't in class today, if I pulled another "Bella Swan Syndrome" accident. I just wanted to throw something at them for that, teasing the fact I was a klutz which meant I had my own syndrome. It was insulting to me and—

I gasped at the hurt that panged my heart as the tears came

—and it was insulting to everyone else here this hospital. I really need to throw something now but couldn't decide on taking out of my books I brought to read while I was here or the easier pillow in front of me, when there was a knock on my door.

"Come on in," I said, flinching at the sound of my voice. It had gone slightly hoarse from the want to cry.

I turned just as the door opened to see a tall blonde male standing at the door. It was one of the two guys I had seen earlier. I rubbed a finger carefully under my eye to whip away the tears that lingered there at the lashes.

"I just wanted to stop by and make sure everything was alright," the nurse said, digging his hands into the pockets of his white scrubs that had Tigger bouncing all over the material. I took it he had very little choice about his work clothes.

"I'm fine," I said, turning back to the bed to open my bag.

"Hmm, you don't _sound_ fine," he said.

I heard him walk into the room as I lifted the laptop that Charlie bought me yesterday. It was supposedly lightweight but it didn't quite feel like it.

"And the redness under your eyes don't look fine either," he continued.

"I'm fine," I repeated, placed the laptop carefully onto the desk by the window.

"Hmm," the nurse said as I undid the cord and plugged it into the outlet. "I guess I was wrong." I turned to see him shrug. "Well if you're hungry, down in the kitchen there is some lunch."

I blinked.

"Kitchen?" I asked.

I saw him smile slightly before his face went emotionless. "It's more like a cafeteria but we try _not_ to make this even more like a hell hole. Two things kids hate are hospitals and school."

I bit my cheek to keep from laughing at the truth at what he said. "I guess kitchen sounds better."

"Glad you think so," he said, tilting his head. "Hungry?"

"I'm…not really sure," I said, walking towards the door, forgetting my stuff. And really I wasn't sure if I was hungry.

"Well, let's see what the kitchen has to eat and see if you're hungry," he said.

I nodded and followed along side him back past the nurses' stations. I saw briefly two of the nurses smiling at us as we walked by but I didn't really pay attention to them.

"By the way, I'm Jasper," the nurse said, offering me his hand.

"Jasper? That's…different," I said.

He smiled and it remained there. He had some of the whitest and straightest teeth I have ever seen. "Its origin is actually Persian meaning 'treasurer' or 'spotted stone.'"

"Or?" I asked.

"Well it's unknown if it's derivative was the Persian word 'Casper' which is 'treasure' or 'Yashp' which is actually the name of a semi-precious form of quartz."

"Interesting," I said.

"Other famous people with the same cool name as I," the nurse continued, "were Jasper _Tudor_, Kind Henry VII's uncle, Jasper Fforde who is a novelist, and lastly Jasper Conran who is a fashion designer. My girlfriend finds it neat that I'm named with a designer."

"Wow, you know a lot about your name," I said.

He chuckled. "I actually know a lot about history. My father was big on history, taught history at the University of Texas in Houston," Jasper said. "His love of history kind of rubbed off."

I paused and looked up at him.

"If you love history, then why are you here?" I asked him.

He stopped just outside the playroom window and looked at me.

"I'm here because people need me," he said, folding his arms across his chest. I noticed scared on his hands and I fought the want to look that them. "Children here are scared, hurting. I find myself when I help them, calm them. It makes me feel good to see a child smile. If I had majored in History, where is that happiness to see others happy?"

I drifted my eyes to the floor as I thought over that for a moment before I looked back up at his dark blue eyes which were almost a black.

"Don't you find it depressing that someone could be dying though?" I asked, grasping the wrist were my hospital band was.

His eyes softened. "I don't see the death here," he stated. "I see the chance to make them better. As long as I focus on that fact, that there maybe a miracle, it's worth everything I do to see that these kids—" he nodded his head in the direction of the window where a mother happened to be holding her one year old in her arms. "—just smile."

And then I watched as Jasper turned and made a face at the child, something that I would never thought of him to do. The one year in the mother's arms smiled up at Jasper's silly face and the mother was smiling slightly too though there was tears in her eyes. Jasper straightened away from the glass, smiling as well.

I looked down the hallway and then back to see that Jasper was looking at me and the mother and baby had moved away from the window.

"Hungry yet?" he asked.

Blinking, I nodded my head slowly though I don't know if I could put down anything. Jasper turned and lead the way towards a door that I thought led into the playground when actually it lead into a miniature school like cafeteria.

"Hey Christian," Jasper said, walking up to a lady in pale cloud blue scrubs. "What's for lunch?"

I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying as my eyes wondered through the room. There was a door against the opposite wall from where I stood that lead into the play area. A few patients were eating small helpings of what was being served expected for two kids in the back. One was a girl with bright purple hair and the other a guy who had a purple bandanna on his head. But that wasn't what made me look at them. It was the fact that they were my age that caught my eye.

* * *

So, what did you think of the chapter? And before you ask, Edward and Bella will meet next chapter…I think. At least that is what I'm hoping for. I'll also going home on Wednesday so you can look for an update after then. I'm planning on doing _a lot_ of writing on the seven hour train ride home, that is if I'm not talking to my Korean friend Eun Ji, who's coming home with me for Turkey Day.

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS—I posted on the "Lessons of the Heart" page what I'm calling "The Remembrance Wall" for Cancer patients. I've been reading so many stories that I thought that maybe it would be fair to share all the other stories with others, maybe like in remembrance towards them. I just that we keep the wall just for stories about cancer and patients, nothing else, in respect please.

PPS—I have seen _Twilight_ the movie and I have posted a spoiler free review (okay there are some bits that can be called spoilers but we have seen them before the movie so they aren't in my book). Go to my blog and read what I had to think. Also leave comments there what you thought of it and of course the green light go for New Moon.


	4. Chapter Three: Mary and Aaron

Okay a lot has happened so I wouldn't bore you with my excuses. You probably already know about me getting a new computer so I had to install Word onto it. You probably already know that it's finals week here on campus. I've only had like one exam to take and a few things to write up but nothing major. So I'll save my excuses and just let you read the chapter...

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

* * *

Chapter Three

**Mary and Aaron**

_Bella's POV_

I watched as the girl rolled her eyes at whatever the guy had said before flinging a piece of her bread at him. The guy leaned back and nicely caught what she had thrown at him, a smirk playing around his lips while he chewed.

"That's Aaron Mathews and Mary Stevens," Jasper whispered close to my ear.

I jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to look at him as he leaned away from me. He had a straight face, as though he didn't just catch me staring, and was looking at the two teenagers in question. I went to say something but quickly realized that I didn't really have anything to say, so I just ended up closing my mouth.

"Do you want to meet them?" Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow. I blinked. "They won't bite, I assure you."

"Uh, I didn't say that they would," I said, turning away from him to look at the girl and guy again.

I hadn't even finish laying my eyes on the two when I connected with two crystal blue eyes. The guy's mouth fell opened, causing the bread to fall out. I saw the girl go "ew" before she looked in my direction. Her eyes were a darker shade of blue than his but they were still blue, and she was looking at me curiously while her partner was still in shock mode.

I motioned to lift up his mouth by lifting with my own mouth before pointing at the guy. I saw the girl quickly look at him and groan. Instead of just simply lifting his mouth up like I would have, she smacked him with the heel of her hand in the middle of his forehead.

"OW! MARY! What the he—"

Jasper cleared his throat very loudly behind me causing the guy to stop what he was about to say. He looked back in Jasper and my direction. Curious as to why he swallowed, I turned to look in Jasper direction as well. Jasper looked quite dangerous in his own way with a frown and his arms folded over his chest.

I heard a girlish laugh come from the direction of the teenagers and heard a chair scrape against the floor.

"Hey Mr. J," the girl said, smiling as she approached us.

"Mary, how are you today?" Jasper asked, his tone friendly and calm.

I turned to see the girl smirk again.

"Are you asking as my nurse or as my friend, Mr. J?" she asked.

"It's lunch Mary," Jasper said, smiling slyly. "What do you think I am right now?"

"Nurse," said a deep voice.

I leaned slightly around the girl to see the guy had decided to join us.

"Oh, and how did you come to that conclusion, Aaron?" Jasper asked him.

"Her," he said, pointing at me.

I blinked at how close his finger was to my face. I desperately wanted to take a snap at it, but Jasper pushed his arm down and away from my face.

"She has a name, Aaron, so drop the caveman act," Mary said.

"You love the caveman act," Aaron said, smirking.

"Don't make me bite you," Mary said, glaring.

I looked at the girl and whispered, "I wish you would for the finger pointing."

Their heads snapped in my direction and I saw Jasper smirk slightly.

"I already like you," Mary said, smiling.

"Great, another 'Mary' to handle," Aaron said.

"I have a name," I said.

"Babe, I figured that in due time you'll be succumbed to my charms," Aaron said.

Mary rolled her eyes.

"What charms?" she said. "Only charms you have are the cereal ones and so far they haven't been so lucky for you."

I chuckled.

"I landed you right?" Aaron said, wrapping his arm around Mary's shoulders.

She tried to shrug off his arm but it stayed where it was around her.

"Please, I am _not_ an airplane," Mary said, rolling her eyes.

"We're together if you can't see that," Aaron said, smiling at me.

"Sadly, we are," Mary said, sighing.

Jasper chuckled besides me.

"Mary, Aaron, this is Isabella Swan," Jasper said, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Aw, dude, you just totally ruined the chance for her to fall for me!" Aaron whined before yelping when Mary pinched his side.

"Sorry," Jasper said, not at all sounding sorry.

"And actually, it's Bella. Hardly anyone calls me Isabella," I said.

"So what are you in here for?" Aaron asked. It sounded so casually that he could have been asking me what my favorite color was.

Mary groaned, and I saw Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Don't mind Mr. Insensitive over here," Mary said, elbowing Aaron in the stomach.

"I wasn't being insensitive," Aaron said, "just curious."

I folded my arms over my chest. "I'll tell you if you tell me why you are here," I said.

"Pineal Tumor," Aaron said. "I was diagnosed at the age of ten after complaining of headaches and having double vision. I've been receiving chemotherapy since then but the tumor hasn't shrunk enough. I'll have surgery in 12 days to remove some of the tumor, followed up with radiation to see if the tumor shrinks."

I saw Mary look at the floor and grasp Aaron's hand.

"I have leukemia," I said. "I was diagnosed after being sick for awhile and constantly bruising. Haven't started anything but hope to go into remission so I can go back home."

"Hear that Mary, another leukemia patient," Aaron said. "Mary has leukemia as well."

"Since I was nine," she said, shrugging. "I've gone into remission twice before. The doctors are hoping that my bone marrow transplant is successful and can remain in remission for a life time."

"Haven't I told you Mary," Aaron said, smiling down at Mary. "We're both going to make it and blow this Popsicle stand. No more wigs—though I do like this purple one that your aunt sent you."

"Save the sweet talk," Mary muttered, narrowing her eyes at Aaron though, there was a slight blush to her pale skin.

"And I'll have hair too," Aaron said. "No more 'Arm & Hammer Guy' shiny head for me anymore."

"Yeah, your head is shiny enough that we could use it as a strobe light or something," Mary joked.

"Alright you too," Jasper cut in, just as Aaron and Mary were about to get into something. "I'm pretty sure that your nurses have medication for you to take."

Aaron gagged as Mary led him out of the kitchen.

"Well," I said, watching them depart. "They were something."

"Hmm, yes, but they like each other somehow and that's alright with us," Jasper said.

"Is it okay for them to be together?" I asked.

Jasper shrugged. "They support each other. Every time that Mary goes through another round of chemo, it takes a big toll on her and he's always there for her. We don't want to ruin anything that makes our patients happy. Though, we do make sure they are in separate rooms at night or in a room with someone at all times, just to make their parents happy. I hardly doubt that they are physically involved."

I nodded. I was a little uneasy about eating my first meal here. I really hate hospitals, and I really hate the food. But it wasn't as bad as I made it too be. I was about to ask Jasper exactly why the food was better here, when the guy from earlier—the one that was hanging with Jasper at the nurses' station—suddenly ducked into the cafeteria, breathing hard.

I raised an eyebrow as I watched him clutch his chest.

"Hello, Edward," Jasper said, smirking slightly at the new arrival.

The guy froze and turned to look in Jasper and my direction. That was when I noticed how green his eyes were.

* * *

I did have resources about Pineal Tumors but freewebs is being a butt and won't let me edit _anything _so I'll post them up "Lessons of the Heart" page soon so that you can check those out if you wish. I will _also_ post who I casted as Mary and Aaron as well when I can. Outside of that…I don't really have a post-chapter AN for you to read, just asking you to review! Please and Thank you!

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS—I posted on the "Lessons of the Heart" page what I'm calling "The Remembrance Wall" for Cancer patients. I've been reading so many stories that I thought that maybe it would be fair to share all the other stories with others, maybe like in remembrance towards them. I just that we keep the wall just for stories about cancer and patients, nothing else, in respect please.  
PPS—Thankie mummy for editing this chapter!


	5. Chapter Four: Her

You have no idea how…difficult it was to write this. I mean physically…I've been having more and more headaches lately. Just the simple joy of reading is a pain. I actually had to enlarge the font size up to like…22 just to be able to read it because the ridiculous 11 that my computer is defaulted just doesn't do it. Still have pains…I really am getting tired of everything.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter…I'm not entire sure if I'm happy with it…but oh well…

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

* * *

Chapter Four

**Her**

_Edward's POV_

I wasn't sure what made me decided to hide from Alice. I didn't learn my lesson over the years that hiding from Alice did no good. The girl was bloody good at hiding things. Like a typical girl, she had more shoes than she had fingers and toes…possibly had more shoes than two people's fingers and toes…or more than that, I didn't know and really didn't care. The point was, if she was missing a shoe, she knew exactly where it was. It was hard to explain. Because technically, if she knew where the shoe was to find it…then it wasn't lost.

Gagh, I was getting a headache trying to figuring out that off-topic issue.

As a kid, I never wanted to play hide and seek with Alice. Why? Because, I wouldn't have made a single sound and I was really clever where I hid, yet Alice always managed to find me not but two minutes later. Plus, she always scared the shit out of me when she did. I have asked her time and time again how she knew everything, because she did know everything. She just smiled and said she had her ways.

Her way always got what she wanted without the begging or even realizing you were giving her what she wanted. Some women had this talent, but she wasn't like most women. No, she was Alice, which made her more insufferable ten times over. This was one of those moments where she was being over the top herself.

I would normally say that she was being over the top when she shopped. I refused to shop with her because she was the definition of a shopaholic. She was most definitely being over the top right now. She wanted me to put on a puppet show. A puppet show shouldn't seem like a big deal, but when she pulls out the costume make-up out of nowhere, that was where I drew the line. Besides, what did I need make-up for anyway? I was going to be hidden under a box, right? Well, suddenly this show turned from a puppet show into "Freddie the puppet with his idiot friend, Edward." Freddie was a puppet who wanted me dressed up like a clown! No way, no how.

So when I was suppose to be changing into the red shoes and ridiculous costume, there was a small amount of time when Alice was pulled away by one of the other children, I managed to slip away and ran for it. I ran into the first place I saw.

It looked like a school cafeteria with round tables and a lunch line. However, instead of the ugly woman serving the line with black fish net hair nets, there were three nurses, each chatting to each other happily.

I exhaled, knowing I had a few minutes before Alice would be free and would find me. Opening my eyes, I looked around and froze. There sitting next to Jasper was the girl I saw before. Her face was half hidden by her hair. Earlier, when I looked at her hair, it was a dark brown color that reminded me of milk chocolate but I wondered if it was the way that the lighting was. Back at the nurses' station, there were plenty of harsh white florescent lights above her head, but here, in the cafeteria, there were a lot of lamps instead of the florescent lights. There was a lamp on each table, giving it less of the cafeteria feel. The way the light from the lamps just behind her and one in front of her…it made everything seem soft and delicate like her hair, which was a light caramel brown color.

The light made her eyes seem more doe like and hinted more of a sadness in them. I felt a twist in my stomach staring into those brown eyes.

"Edward?" Jasper asked, causing me to look away from the girl and at him instead.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "What are you doing in here? Weren't you suppose to be with—?"

"Puppets," I said, hurrying to take a seat besides him. "I don't see how you can live with her."

"Technically, we're dating, not living together," Jasper said. "The only people who have lived with her have been you and your parents."

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "She still is over the top. I don't care if I have to spend my entire day here but I'm so not going to put on make-up."

The girl besides Jasper just blinked, pulling on her sweater sleeve.

"Hi," I said, smiling at her. "I'm Edward Masen."

She nodded her head and looked at Jasper. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Edward this is Isabella Swan," Jasper said, pushing the tray of food that was before him towards the girl, giving her a pointed look.

"Is she mute or something?" I asked, wondering why she didn't tell me her name herself.

"No," Jasper said, still looking at the girl.

I glanced at her and watched as she picked up her fork and push aside the cherry tomatoes that were on the plate.

"I'm not really hungry," the girl said, putting down her fork and pushing the plate slightly away from her.

"Really, because if you're not, I am," I said, smirking at the girl.

She glanced up at me, her eyes narrowing slightly. She picked up her fork and twirled the pasta that was on her plate twice before putting it into her mouth. I smirked at the sight of the one strand of pasta hanging out of her mouth. She sucked it in, a little bit of the pasta sauce landing on her nose as she did so.

"Good girl," I said.

"Bite me," she said, taking a stab at poor cherry tomato. She looked sadly at the tomato and slowly lifted to her mouth to eat it.

Jasper yanked me closer and hissed into my ear, "You don't need to tease her."

"I wasn't," I said.

Jasper glared at me.

"Fine, fine," I said, raising my hands. "I'll be good."

"Good," said a very familiar female voice behind me. "Because if you were bad, you know that you'll have to visit here more often."

I turned my head slowly and stared up at Alice.

"Hey…sis," I said, smiling slowly. "I see you found me."

Alice slowly smiled, resting her hand onto my shoulder. She turned away from me to look at Isabella.

"Hey fancy seeing you again," Alice said, smiling at Isabella.

"Alice, we met yesterday," Isabella said, giving a timid smile.

"Really? I _totally_ forgot. Anyways, I see you've met your brother and my boyfriend."

"Which is your brother? And which is your boyfriend?" the girl asked, looking between Jasper and me.

Alice's nails dug into me. "This is _my _brother," Alice said, smiling down at me. I flinched at her nails but smiled none the less up at Alice.

Alice turned her smile towards Jasper.

"And that is _my_ boyfriend," Alice said.

"Oh," Isabella said, blinking at Jasper and I. "Thank goodness."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She just raised another cherry tomato on her fork and ate it.

"Otherwise, you would have very bad taste in boyfriends," she said after she finished eating her little tomato.

I gaped at her while Alice and Jasper chuckled.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Jasper said, pushing back the plate that she had pushed away from her earlier.

"Most definitely a compliment," Alice said.

I crossed my arms and pouted slightly. I glared at the girl in front of me, who started to push around her pasta.

"So, dear brother of mine, what exactly are you doing here?" Alice asked, looking down at me. "You wouldn't be here because you're running from Freddie…are you?"

"How did you find me anyways?" I asked.

"Nurses' station," Alice said.

"We have a set of cameras so that we can keep a better eye on patients," Jasper said. "This way, we can give our patients their privacy and yet still do our jobs."

"I bet this came after a girl tried to kill herself," Isabella muttered before taking another bite of pasta.

Alice and Jasper looked at each other, and I knew right away that was what happened. Gave the girl too much privacy, and she probably made a dash for it for the roof. I wondered if the Hospital even had a stairwell to the roof.

"Anyways, Edward," Alice said. "If you don't want to hang with Freddie—"

"Freddie is a puppet, Alice," I pointed out. "I don't need to be hanging with a puppet."

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Then why don't you hang with Bella then?"

I looked across the table at…Bella. So she prefers Bella over Isabella? Well Bella didn't seem like she enjoyed the thought of sitting with me by the glare she was throwing me.

"Sure, why not," I said, smiling at her.

Alice squealed and hugged me around the shoulders.

"Come on Jasper! Freddie is waiting," Alice said the second after she left me go.

I watched as Jasper actually linked his fingers through Alice's and headed away. I had no idea how he could stand being with her. She was probably going to make him wear the clown make-up.

"So, Bella," I said, looking back at the girl who was taking another bite of pasta. I noticed that she _still_ had a bit of pasta sauce on her nose so I quickly reached out and wiped it off. Her eyes went wide causing me to smirk at her as she raised her eyes back up to mine. "Who are you visiting here at the hospital?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she took a bite of salad this time. "Who says I'm visiting anyone here at the hospital?" she asked after she swallowed.

I went to say something, but I froze as I caught something peeking out of her sweater sleeve.

"I just might be a patient," she whispered, before eating another cherry tomato.

* * *

So what do you guys think of the chapter? Review and let me know. Meanwhile…I'm going to go bash my head against the wall and see if that makes my headache go away (okay, it will probably make it worse, but that just tells you how the Aleve isn't working anymore).

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS—Edited by my mummy


	6. Chapter Five: Stages and Stories

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

* * *

Chapter Five

**Stages and Stories**

_Bella's POV_

When I was first diagnosed with leukemia, I went to counseling. It was standard. I had never been to counseling before my diagnoses and I didn't really think that it would help with the fact that I was at death's door. And I wasn't the only person who decided before starting counseling that the practice was useless. My counselor had seen everything and, as much as I rather be reading or do something else than talk about my emotions, I had to admit that the counselor was pretty smart and hit a lot of things on the freaking head.

The seven stages of grief were what the counselor said. First stage was shock or disbelief, followed by denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression and lastly the God sent stage…acceptance and hope. Of course, each person is different. One many never have anger but have a major case of depression while the next person may be in denial for years but never have depression.

I never felt that shock stage or the bargaining or guilt stage. But I somehow was stuck on denial while managing to get to the anger and depression. The counselor I had been seeing before moving to Seattle had told me that sooner or later I would move past the denial stage…but I doubted it now.

Sitting across that…that _arrogant _jerk, I felt my three more dominant stages all in one. He looked at me like I was just some normal person when I wasn't. I wasn't just a _normal_ person. A _normal_ person didn't have bone marrow that made a person sick. No, _their_ bone marrow made the person _better_ when they were sick. I wanted so badly to just stab my fork into his eye and then serve his eye ball to man eating sharks.

The _jerk_.

But then…I felt the denial creep in. I was a normal person…I wasn't sick, I wasn't dying. Maybe there was a mistake. Doctors made mistakes all the time. My primary care physician (at the time) once diagnosed me with just a simple allergy when three days later a different doctor diagnosed me having bronchitis. Of course the second doctor, Dr. Carter, was right and he became my pcp. He was right…right…right…

I sighed and leaned against the window. The look on his face when I told him I was a patient. I had looked up through my eyelashes as I chewed the tomato. His eyes were so wide that I could easily stab my fork in it if I wanted to, forget the sharks. I didn't stay long afterwards though because I pushed away my plate and walk out of the kitchen.

And I went straight to my room. I decided just watch the rain come down. Seattle, well the entire state of West coast of Washington state, was known for its rain, so it wasn't a surprise to see that it was raining now.

I was watching red car stop at a red light when there was a soft knock on the door of my room.

"Hey," Alice said, entering the room.

"Hi," I said, looking at my hands at was intertwined around my knees.

"So…how was your first day here?" Alice asked, sitting down at my desk chair.

I shrugged. "Everyone was really nice…especially your boyfriend."

Alice smiled. "Yeah, he is," she said, leaning onto the arm rest.

I tilted my head. "What made you decide to start dating him?"

"Outside that we love each other?"

I smirked. "Outside of that, yeah…there has to be reasons as to _why_ you love each other," I said.

"He just…understands me," Alice said, looking thoughtful. "My entire life…I was bounced from family to family. I never understood love until I meet Jasper.

"Jasper is two years older than I am. He was volunteering at the hospital when I came into the ER. I never been to the hospital before but…well my last family I was with…their older son was very abusive. My girl friend, Rose, took me to the hospital when I went over to her house one time after I got knocked around one particular time. I didn't want to go in because I was afraid that I was going to have to go to another family and I was getting very tired of moving around but Rose said she knew someone who would be gentle with me at the hospital…I didn't know that that person was her cousin."

I blinked. "Her cousin?" I asked.

Alice smiled. "Mhm, Rosalie and Jasper are like…second cousins twice removed or something like that. Anyways, when we got there," Alice smiled dramatically, "it was love at first sight. Jasper was overly gentle with me and kind. And you know what the best thing he said to me outside of keeping me occupied while the nurse was cleaning one of cuts?"

I shook my head.

"He told me that I was going to find a family," Alice said, smiling and leaning closer.

I smiled. "He must have been physic or something," I said.

Alice shrugged and looked away. I could see like something sadness in her eyes.

"Maybe," she said, looking out the window.

I waited for her to continue her story.

"I tell everyone that I meant Jasper when I started my charity work here," Alice said, looking back at me. "And…it's the half truth."

I tilted my head at her, still waiting for her to continue.

"We did meet up here at the hospital. We _did_ meet in this very ward," Alice said. "About three years later though."

I felt my eyes go wide.

"I was fifteen when I first meet Jasper. Seven months later I was adopted by the Cullens and I lost touch with Jasper even though I was friends with his cousin. I was eighteen, visiting a friend here in this ward when I saw Jasper again." Alice chuckled. "I was skipping through the hall with my friend when I ran right into him. And when I saw who it was, I blurted out, 'You better not run away from me because I owe you a date.' Poor Jasper just blinked and went, 'I'll pick you up at seven then.'"

I smiled.

"Then my life was perfect," Alice said, smiling at me.

"I'm so glad you got your happy ending, Alice," I said. And surprisingly, I was happy for her. You think being the sadist I was that I wouldn't be happy for someone else.

"Yeah," Alice said before sighing. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier today."

I blinked.

"What happened earlier?" I asked, still confused.

"My brother," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh." I leaned back against the wall. "You shouldn't be the one saying sorry."

"I know but if I don't, you'll _never_ get one," she said.

"Well I guess I won't get one," I said.

Alice blinked, turning her head to the side. "You are something Bella," she said.

I blinked. But before I had the chance to respond to that, there was a soft knock at the door. Turning my head, I noticed the green eyes staring back. At the sight of me, I saw his back go straight and on the defensive. Clearly he didn't like making a fool of.

"It's time to go, Alice," he said, stuffing a hand into his pocket, turning so that his back was against the door post.

Alice nods once in her brother's direction before turning to look back at me.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Alice said, grasping my hands.

"Alice, I'll be fine," I said, giving her a look. She really didn't need to see me every day and I told her that much.

"I _will_ be here tomorrow," she said, glaring at me.

I sighed but nodded. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, much to my surprise, before quickly dancing out of the room probably to say good night to boyfriend. Jasper still had another hour left on his shift.

I turned to look back out the window, away from the guy still standing at the door, and hoped he would just go away. But sadly, I could still see him in the window, still standing there at the door.

"You made me look like an ass earlier," he finally said.

I turned back to look at him, blinking. He had finally moved, facing me full on. I looked up back into his emerald eyes and saw a raw emotion there. Was it hate? Or anger? But it caused his eyes to look dark and hard and flat with that emotion within them.

"Well you knew about assuming," I said softly. "It just makes an ass out of you and me."

His spine went ram rob straight and his eyes hardened even more. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something back, probably more so to snap at me, but he closed his mouth with a click of his teeth only sounding. I could see his jaw harden and I knew that he was grounding his teeth. I use to do that and I knew it hurt somewhat.

I blinked as he suddenly turned around and left the room, leaving me in my scattered thoughts and cloud of depression about to descend on me.

* * *

So what you guys think about the chapter? Sorry that it's been awhile since I updated but things happened, one of which was school picked up. I've always been dealing with a slight case of depression myself. Still not sure what's going on with me but the MRI I had about three weeks ago came back and I've been scheduled to see a specialist to see what the results are. I'll try to update again soon but don't check your email everyday looking for an update, sorry. Anyways, review away! They always make me happy.

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS—I good song for the story, well kinda anyways, is "Desperate" by David Archuleta. I had bought his CD along with Stacie Orrico and that song reminds me of what this story is kinda about. So go to the "Lessons of the Heart" Webpage and listen to it and tell me what you think of the song.


	7. Chapter Six: Dreams

Okay…I'm sorries (that's plural for sorry…okay not really but whatever) for not updating in a while. I've had a minor little set back called writer's block. I just knew what I wanted to write but I wasn't sure how to connect from point A (ch 5) to point B (whatever that is, not saying). So like a train set you have to connect all the pieces together to make a train…you know run. So ya…I couldn't figure out how to get the train from Station A to Station B, so if this seems…bland or just plain not me, well blame the writer's block.

And outside of writer's block, school is kicking my a double s (what's that spell?! ASS!!! XD I'm hyper by the way if you guys can't tell…-shifty eyes-). Seriously…me and sophomore year(s) don't go well together. And I added the (s) because there is a sophomore year in High School and one in College…and I'm in college. I'll explain in my post chapter AN what went down in High School for those who care but for those who don't, not read any more sorry excuses and want to read the chapter...HERE'S THE CHAPTER FOR YA!!!

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

* * *

Chapter Six

**Dreams**

_Edward's POV_

_Green. All around me was green. Not a dull sap green or even that yuck puke green. But a vivid forest green. It was everywhere, with just a hint of burnt sienna. It reminded me of a watercolor painting of a forest._

_A forest…it made sense as to why I was seeing all this green around me. I walked forward, not sure where I was heading. The ground was uneven with large roots, thicker than my arm, branched out of the damp earth that were perfect for tripping un-expecting person who dared to amble through its domain, blending into the soil. I managed to catch my toe on one of said roots and went sprawling across the carpet of forest._

_The birds, hidden well within the foliage above my head, called out their cries, sounding as if they were laughing at my fallen state. Groaning, I slowly rose again, dusting myself off with the dirt that hadn't turned into mud. I look ahead when I spotted something in the distance. It was a colorless spot within the bright greenery around me._

_My heart sped up as my mind picked up on the fact that it was a person laying face down into the dirt. I rushed forward, a sudden panic filling within my chest. I couldn't see who the person was, if they were female or male, alive or…dead. I dropped to my knees and went to roll the person over. Then everything went cold as I stared down at the pale lifeless face of a girl…the girl from the hospital._

_Her warm brown eyes that were once filled with sorrow were now dull, lifeless, and staring up at me. Her lips were a pale muddy color instead of a pale pink. Her skin was white with death._

"You can't save her_," a voice floated through my mind. I looked up and froze as I stared at her across the clearing I found._

_She wasn't dressed in the gray hoodie and sweats that the body was. Instead she was in a white flowing dress, something that belonged on a warm beach somewhere. Her feet were bare and marred with fresh cuts but there was no blood coming from them. There were similar marks on her hands that peeking out from under the sleeves of the dress. I looked up into her eyes which were hidden underneath hair that framed her face, hiding everything there._

"But you _can_ save yourself_," she whispered, her eyes staring directly into mine._

I gasped, my eyes opening to see that I was lying in bed, and quickly sat forward. I read the bright red numbers that came from the clock across the room and groaned. It was only two o'clock in the morning. Flopping back down, I looked up at ceiling, sleep eluding me now.

These dreams all started shortly after the hospital visit with Alice. At first they were just simple dreams, nothing to wake up in the middle of the night about. I mean what is scary about me walking through a very green forest. But then suddenly they started to change each night I dreamed. One dream I came across a large vulture in the middle of the forest. It didn't make sense why I would see a vulture in the middle of a forest but when I mentioned it to Alice, she went all mystic on me, searching up on the internet the meaning of dreams.

"_Okay, according to _dreammood dot com…_Too see vultures in your dream, suggests that your past experiences will provide you with invaluable insight into a current situation or problem. Alternatively, it indicates that you are opportunistic or that someone is watching you and waiting for you to take a misstep. The dream may also be a metaphor for someone who is a 'vulture.' Perhaps you feel being taking advantage of or someone is using you."_

I snorted at Alice and told her that the only experience anyone would want from me would only be useful in bed. Alice gave me a dirty look when I said that and was about to re-inform me that I was a V, ergo I had no experience in bed. I rolled my eyes and then said that I was very opportunistic and could get laid soon…which earned me a hard jab in the gut.

Thankfully, that was the only time I dreamed of a vulture. I was still confused about how I knew the ugly bird was a vulture, considering I never see one in person or in a book, but that was the only dream it was in. For about a month, it was just about trees then just when I hated going to sleep the dreams changed…to where I fall down instead. And falling when you're dreaming is scary. Each time, before I hit the ground I would jump up in my sleep, causing me to be awake for three darn hours.

Great…went from vultures to falling down. If you can't see it, life loves me. Of course Alice wanted to look up the meaning of dreams where you're falling but I took her laptop away before she would. She then called me a five year old for stealing it and left my apartment.

Sighing, I threw back my covers and decided to go get something to drink. It wasn't until I was at the fridge that I remembered that Alice took all the alcohol from my apartment. I groaned and grabbed the half gallon of milk, Oreo cookies and peanut butter before heading into the living room.

Not caring really what was in the sound system, I hit play on the stereo and sat down to eat my cookies. I didn't really have a favorite way to eat Oreo cookies. One cookie I would dunk the cookie into the milk, the next would twist and lick the filling off, before eating the next with peanut butter.

I didn't start dreaming about finding the girl in the trees until recently. I didn't even tell Alice about it because she'll make something big out of it. How the girl is my soul mate and everything is probably want she's going to say. But she wasn't. If she was my soul mate, why would she die? That just doesn't make sense.

I dunked a cookie over and over in the milk as I remembered seeing the dead girl for the first time. Started out the same as always, walking through the same trees. And when I fell, I didn't jolt out of sleep like I normally did. Instead I rose, slowly, looking out in front of me, seeing that gray out appearing through the underbrush. I went very carefully in that direction, unsure of what the gray was. It wasn't until I rolled over the girl, saw the familiar eyes did I jolt upright in bed, panting, fully awake.

I spread peanut butter over the cookie in my hand and viciously ate it. I wasn't even sure why I was thinking about the girl, sleep or not. For the first time in years, I felt out of my element around her. She wasn't impressed by my charm or looks and didn't mind saying whatever to put me back into place when I tried to put the blame onto her what happened.

Now, almost three in the morning, I decided to try to get some sleep before making a call to Alice in the morning. The only way I was going to get her out of my dream and out of my life for good was if I went to visit her one more time, proving that I wasn't some jerk. And proving it to also Alice, hoping she would get off my case about doing charity work.

* * *

Okay…so it wasn't entirely action packed or as long as I wanted it to be but not a lot I can't do about that. Anyways…FYI...  
—dreammood dot com is a real site so everything that Alice read about the dream bits…direct quotes and stuff from the site. I would link it…but I'm too lazy and too busy to do that.  
—Yes, I have had dreams where I _**felt**_ like I was falling and have jumped. It was SO creepy!!! I hate it when it happens  
—I actually twist my Oreo cookies without licking off the filling and eat the halves (the half with the less filling first) before drinking milk to follow it

Now for those in stuck through the chapter and care about why sophomore year is a pain in HS and now in college, let me explain. In High School, my sophomore year was emotionally and mentally unstable for me. My Latin teacher basicly told me that he didn't understand why I was in Latin II (and surprisingly he still passed me onto Latin III). I was diagnosed with A.D.D. after a major bout of depression (I hated my previous PCP, he thought the A.D.D. was the cause of the depression and dealing with the A.D.D. would stop the depression…yeah right!) where I became suicidal. Now, four years later, I'm struggling all over again.

So I'm just asking for a little time and patience in between updates. School and my well being is the most important things in my life right now and for Lent (I'm Catholic remember) I am especially going to focus on being a better me. So if I don't update when you think I should, remember what I have on my back. You never know when the straw just might break my back.

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS- it's 3 am, I'm tired, I'll edit this after I get 8 hours of sleep. If there is any mistakes, PM them to me please. It will help me correct what I need to correct.


	8. Chapter Seven: Therapy

**Don't hate for me the length it took me to post. Stuff happens…more detail down below. Enjoy the chapter!**

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Chapter Seven

**Therapy**

_Bella's POV_

It had been a long two months since I moved into the hospital. I couldn't say that a lot has happened since the first unfaithful day, just that with nothing to do most of the time except homework, and even that was a drag, all the day seemed to just drag and blend into one another.

I was still able to attend my classes, though not the same way as I use to. I wasn't able to interact anymore with my classmates, not that I did that much before I moved into the hospital, and wasn't able to ask questions anymore without have unwanted attention being focus on me. Unlike my classmates, when confused, I had to speak into a microphone that was built into my laptop and interrupt the teacher as they taught. I saw the looks and heard the snickers from those in the room. It made me frustrated that they thought I couldn't see them or hear them. And just one day, I got so fed up with the entire situation that I made a scene that didn't help with my undesired attention.

_- . - . - . - . - Flashback - . - . - . - . -_

_I bit my lip, watching as my Calculus professor try to explain something, for the second time, how to work a problem. I still wasn't sure still how to work the probably and I was pretty sure that he was going to have to use that special computer tablet so I can see more detail of how to work it out. But while I should have been watching him, I noticed Lauren muttering something—something that I could hear._

"_Pft, Bella is acting stupid again. Bet she wasn't getting enough attention there in that nut house she's in."_

_All I could see was red. Did they not _know_ that I could _still_ hear them? I just snapped, literally snapped, and started to yell at Lauren for about a whole five minutes, shocking everyone, before the teacher was able to function again, taking me off the speaker and took the phone out into the hallway to clam me down. He had good attentions but he wasn't the brightest bulb there because I could still see the room which as they started to move again they started to snicker behind their hands._

_- . - . - . - . - . - End of Flashback - . - . - . - . -_

Since that accident, I refused to ask any questions during class. Instead I waited until the bell rung for changing of classes before I begun to ask any questions.

Out outside of my dull classes, there wasn't much to do. Most of the time here was taken up with medical stuff.

About two weeks into my stay at the hospital, I went through a bone marrow biopsy. I was terrified of the huge needle, refusing to go into the room that the biopsy would be performed. If it wasn't for Mary and Aaron aiding Jasper into the sanitary room, I doubt I would have gone in at all. I probably would have run out of the hospital, screaming for my life. The biopsy was _extremely_ painful, even with the anesthesia they had given me. Mary and Aaron refused to leave my side as they extracted the red bone marrow from my hipbone. It was actually some comfort having Mary and Aaron there, while it was painful, their playful bickering back and forth was actually really nice to have.

I can't remember how long it took for the results came back from the bone marrow biopsy but I remember the day that they came in.

_- . - . - . - . - Flashback - . - . - . - . -_

_Dr. Harper sat in front of me with my counselor standing just behind her. I knew that it wasn't good news if my counselor was there._

"_Hi Bella, how are you?" Dr. Harper said, giving me a small slight smile._

"_Considering everything, okay…I guess," I said, looking at her for as long as I could._

"_Bella, we received your bone marrow biopsy from pathology," Dr. Harper said, opening my file up, flipping to a section where I was assuming my results were. "And with your blood results, it seems, Bella, that…that you have acute lymphocytic leukemia." Dr. Harper looked up at me._

_I blinked. "And?"_

"_Acute lymphocytic leukemia is one of the common leukemia diagnosed, Bella," Dr. Harper stated, going on about what this type of leukemia is and what it is going to me. "We'll start you out on chemotherapy and in most cases, patients with ALL—as we call it—can go into remission just with the chemotherapy."_

"_What if it doesn't go into remission?" I asked. "Then are you going to do that transplant stuff?"_

_Dr. Harper looked up at me. "Yes, Bella. We'll can either do a bone marrow transplant if, by chance, we find a good bone marrow that matches, or in the cases that there aren't, we can do a stem cell transplant. But let's not worry about that now, Bella. Let's focus on the chemotherapy for now and worry about transplanting anything later, if by chance nothing has changed."_

_- . - . - . - . - End of Flashback - . - . - . - . -_

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Dr. Harper had order one extra test, a spinal tap to make sure that no of my leukemia cells went into the spinal cord and brain lining. That procedure was also painful, with the anesthesia. They didn't find any cancer cells, thankfully but they would have to continue tapping into my spinal cord to make sure everything was alright.

Now, two months later, I was receiving my second treatment of chemotherapy. I felt disgusted as the nurse on call cleaned my arm with an alcohol pad. I scrunched my nose at the harsh smell as she went to wiped away the last of the alcohol before. Then that prick that cause tears to form. I hated needles. Hate, hate, hate them!

"I can't wait either for chemotherapy to end," Mary said to my left.

I watched as she sat down, her nurse besides her about to prep her for her chemo session. Mary was wearing a bright red wig that reminded me of Ronald McDonald. It was pretty funny considering where she was at.

"This is my second time at this, and it's always a day in heaven for the last treatment and been told you can go home," Mary said, smiling at me as the nurse cleaned her arm.

"Unless it comes back," I muttered.

"Positive thoughts mi'dear," Mary said.

I nodded and remember that Mary was fighting her second round with her disease. She had gone into remission but it came back a year or so ago. I heard before that if chemotherapy doesn't work soon that Mary was going under the scalpel.

"How's Aaron?" I asked.

The other day, Aaron's surgery was postponed to another date, which hadn't been scheduled yet.

"Upset but he's a trooper," Mary said, nodding.

"Still planning all the things that he's going to do when you're both able to go home?"

Mary giggled. "Yeah, I think he added a trip to the tropics to the list."

"No trip to Europe?"

"Please, that's the _addition_ to the trip to Europe," Mary said, rolling her eyes.

I smiled. It was really sweet to see them together, it wasn't as private as watching Jasper and Alice together but it was pretty close.

"So, how are you?" Mary asked, her needle now in place for her chemotherapy.

I sighed.

"I see," Mary said.

"I'm so sick of being…sick, I guess," I said, leaning my head against my fist that didn't have the needle in my arm. "The chemotherapy is making me sick of course. I can't keep anything down anymore. My hair…" I felt emotional again over the fact that my hair was starting to shed in clumps now. I saved every strand in a little ribbon. "Emotionally I'm drained. I don't want to do even look at my computer or "attend" class anymore."

"I know, I know," Mary said.

"I don't think I can take this anymore Mary," I whispered.

"Bella, you're going to make it. You're here for a reason," Mary said. "Trust me about this. You might think that everyone is against you and that you won't make it, but you can…you just need faith, especially within yourself."

I turned my head towards Mary and watched her close her eyes.

"Trust me, Bella…you just need faith."

I bit my lip and looked down at my arm with the needle. _You're going to make it…You're going to make it…_

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**I know that it was a short chapter, slightly a bit of filler but I needed to write it. Next chapter shall be a bit more eventful…when that chapter will be posted is unknown. I have finals the first week of May and then I have surgery late May to remove my tonsils. I'm scared about the surgery, even if it is a day procedure, I've hear enough about the recovery that it's scaring me. Anyways….review please! Reviews will make me happy!**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS- "Strong Enough" by Stacie Orrico is a beautiful song for really this chapter but also for Bella. I posted the song on the _Lessons of the Heart_ for everyone can listen to. I tear up a bit listening to the song…in actually to a few of Stacie Orrico's songs.**

**PPS- For those who are curious as to what's been going on with me, I suggest reading my blog. It is helpful regarding everything that is happening with me.**


	9. Chapter Eight: Visitors Part One

"**If it hurts you, then it's not worth it. Your health (mental and physical) comes first. Not other people's."  
~Daddy's Little Cannibal to me via MySpace mail**  
_September 11, 1990 - May 8, 2009_

**There aren't a lot of words to describe the feelings of the passing away of Daddy's Little Cannibal on the 8th of May. I knew her somewhat, talked to her on a few occasions. She was just a great person, a wonderful athuor and she will thouroughly be missed. She was listened to me when I had questions and was a great backboard to bounce a few ideas about this story (or any story). She was the type of person who I looked up too, respected, and listened to the writing advice she gave me. She was just a...wonderful girl, one that will be missed terribly.**

_**Thanks to those who reported the "person" who wrote they were "happy" about DLC's death. The person was removed from FanFiction, along with all reviews that they left. Any person who is happy about a death is truly a heartless person.**_

**Anyways…I've decided to dedicate this story to DLC. Back in Nov, she made me realized that I should write for myself. And while some of you may not like the ending of this story (for those that don't, I suggest that you listen to "Forgive Me" by Leona Lewis because it's a perfect song), I'm going to write the ending **_**I want**_**…and I'm pretty sure DLC couldn't be happier I did. Without a do…**

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Chapter Eight

**Visitors Part One**

_Edward's POV_

"Are you _sure_ you're not sick?" Alice asked, giving me a confused but yet concerned look. "Because you know, most of these kids don't have an immune system so they can't fight off a lot of infections."

"I'm _fine_," I groaned, fighting the need to fidget with the huge teddy bear.

Alice looked at the floor lights for a second before glancing back at me. I sighed. I guess, if I were in her shoes, I would too be confused as to why my big idiotic brother was doing charity work, _without_ being asked to or pouting about doing it. Of course, the gigantic teddy bear that was nearly as big as me, didn't help much either to my questionable insanity.

Finally the elevator door opened and I lugged the bear out.

"By the way, who exactly is that teddy bear for?" Alice asked, just watching me try to carry this monster of a creature.

"No idea," I panted as we neared the nurses' station.

Alice rolled her eyes and skipped towards where her boyfriend was.

Really, I wasn't sure who the bear was going to. I just bought it when we stopped toy store. It was just sitting there by its lonesome and I thought that some kid would love it.

"Wow Edward, did you get eaten by this thing?" Jasper joked.

I leaned around the plush toy and glared at him. He was smiling at me, his arm wrapped around Alice's waist.

"Very funny, Jazzy," I said, using the nickname Alice calls him by.

He went pink in the cheeks slightly but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to Alice and said, "Emma was asking for you the other day. She was hoping that you would read her another story."

Alice smiled. "I'll go visit her as _soon_ as I visit Bella."

I felt my heart tighten within my chest at the sound of her name and rubbing my chest. I wasn't sure what I was feeling but it wasn't something I had felt before.

The look on Jasper's face caused a bit of concern. It looked slightly pained. Alice must have seen his look because she grasped his arm.

"She started chemotherapy two months ago. It's hitting her hard," he whispered. "She's in her room, trying to do homework that was due a week and a half ago."

"I'm going to go say hi to her," Alice said.

"Yeah…me too," I said and quickly, as I could that is considering the fact I was lugging something that could be realistic bear.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at me as I passed him and I was pretty sure that he was thinking the same thing Alice was earlier.

_Bella's POV_

I just wanted to sleep. I knew that this was an effect of the chemotherapy but I wasn't sure if I could make it. I wasn't eating anything because it would come back up, with a slight pinkness tint that told me there was some blood mixed in it. I was half way to be bald which, if I wasn't already in bed because of my weak estate, I would hide in my room. The way it is, I throw a towel over my head when the nurses come in to make sure everything is alright, especially during one of my up-chuckling ordeals.

I sighed and pushed away my laptop. I was behind in my homework and I had set up for all my classes to be recorded instead of played live mostly because I was too tired to even get up to even "attend" them. I emailed questions to my teachers, which appeared to be more often…asking questions I meant.

I turned to my bed side table for my pitcher of water, suddenly thirsty. The pitcher wasn't a full as wish it was but anything half full was too heavy for me. I hated getting up to refill the pitcher but I hated more calling on the nurses to fill something that I could walk a few feet to the bathroom to do. I carefully lifted the pitcher, biting my lip at how the foam thing felt so heavy. It wasn't even half full! I started to straighten up, wanting nothing more to smile at the fact I accomplished the easy task of getting a drink, but just as I brought the pitcher of the bed bar—I hated the bar but the nurse had put it up a few nights ago after I managed to roll out of bed—my arm gave out and I dropped the pitcher on the bed. The lid popped off and iced water poured all over my bed sheets.

I gasped at the cold wet feeling that covered my entire lap and legs, and felt the sudden wetness within my eyes as they prickled at the need to cry. Pissed at the fact I couldn't handle even a simple pitcher, I picked up the closes thing, the pitcher, and threw it as hard as I could. I wasn't sure where I threw it because of the tears filling my sight but I had a funny feeling that someone saw my action because there was a sudden sound of footsteps in the room.

"Bella!" said a familiar female voice as I picked up my pillow from behind me and threw it. I heard it hit something, a crash and a shatter from whatever the pillow hitting it. I left out a cry as I felt arms hold me tight as tried to get away from them. "Bella what's wrong?"

I relaxed and turned into a warm shoulder to cry as I heard more footsteps.

"What's the matter?" I heard Jasper call as he entered the room.

"I have no idea," said another voice, one that I heard months ago. I gasped and pushed away from whoever was holding me.

"Bella, relax please," Jasper said.

I felt hands on my shoulders and knew right away that it was Jasper. It was one of his things he did when he wanted anyone to relax. I stopped struggling and leaned back into the shoulder again, crying.

"Bella, babe," said Alice, "what's the matter?" The body beneath me vibrated with the voice and knew that it was Alice beneath my head.

"Why does it look like she wet the bed?" said the infuriating voice from before.

I pushed away from Alice to glare in the general direction of the voice.

"I didn't wet the bed you asshole!" I shouted. "I dropped the God damn water pitcher because I'm too fucking weak, you insensitive jerk!" **(—Nollie gets a 'Gibbs' slap by mother for writing the "Gd" bit—)**

Finally some of the tears, running down my cheeks, stopped blocking my sight and I was able to see Edward standing at the door, holding something that covered a good portion of him. Even though I was slightly pissed of his comment of the bed wetting, but seeing him being engulf by the huge white bear was really funny.

"So who did you piss off that you have to give them that colossal bear?"

Alice laughed and looked at her brother.

"So far only you today," Edward said, dragging the bear into the room…only to somehow manage to get the bear's legs caught at the door.

No matter what he did he couldn't get it through the door. I bit my lip as both Jasper and Alice start to laugh at his attempts. Frustrated, he gave one good yank and the bear came dislodged, but he lost his footing. He landed sprawled out on the floor, the bear laying a top of him. I smiled, not really able to laugh the way I wanted to without getting myself hurt.

"Wow, Edward, I've heard that you are a ladies' man but I didn't know you had bears falling for you," Jasper cracked.

Alice, of course, had something outside of her brother on her mind.

"How about we get you out of those wet PJs?" she said.

I nodded, leaning against the bed, watching Alice shoo Edward and Jasper out of the door. With a lot of help from Alice, I changed into another pair of PJs—ones that Alice _did not_ approve of—and laid back in bed.

"Okay, you gentlemen are cleared to come in," Alice said after finishing her promise of getting me better clothes.

I slowly sat down in the only chair in the room, not wanting to sit the wet bed, and watched Jasper and Edward walk back into the room, each passing the massive white teddy bear. It was really a beautiful bear outside of the fact of its size.

"Here Bella," Jasper said, handing me a glass of water, placing another water pitcher on the bed side table.

"Thanks," I whispered, sipping it. "Jasper…do you mind moving the table closer to me so I don't have to reach so much."

"Sure," he said and pushed the table six inches closer to me. "I'll be right back with fresh bed sheets."

I gave him my thanks and looked down at the water glass.

_Edward's POV_

I watched Bella stare at her glass. She was thinner than the last time I had seen her. Her hair was also thinner, all her changes due to the chemotherapy she was going through. I could only manage what she was going through, the pain and hurting.

"So Bella, have you had any visitors?" Alice asked, sitting on the windowsill.

Bella shook her head.

"None?" Alice gasped.

"Just you and Edward," Bella breathed.

"Well some guests," Alice muttered, crossing her arms. "One's a perfect friend and the other a jackass."

I glared at Alice and wanted to so desperately poke her but thought against it.

"It's okay…it's better than not having any visitors," Bella said, taking another sip.

I was about to mention something when there was a knock on the door. I turned to see Jasper's face, a worried look on it, appear into the room.

"Huh, Bella…there are some…_people_ here to see you," he said.

I turned back to Bella to see a puzzled look on her face. I wonder who _else_ was visiting her.

* * *

**I decided to actually cut this chapter into two parts. This part when Alice and Edward visiting her and the next part…well who do you think is visiting her? Review and let me know what you think of this visit and, of course, who you think is her next set of guests.**

**Again, thanks to all those who reported the person from my last post. They were deleted so we won't have to deal with that person again. For those who did review my author note, I'm sorry that you can't review this chapter. I forgot to mention not to review my author note because I was going to delete it, and to instead send me a PM. For those that can't review because of my mistake, I do take anonymous reviews, so you ****can**** sign out of your FanFiction account and review anonymous (just make sure that you write your **_**actual**_** FF sign-in name so I know who y'all are!**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS— My finals went okay. I am actually not…quite finish with the semester because I took two incompletes but I have awhile to finish those work. I start working probably next week, again at the same hospital I worked last summer. And my tonsillectomy is still scheduled for May 26. Not really scared about the procedure itself…just the recovery bit because I am a **_**slow**_** healer.**

**PPS— The 'Gibbs' slap earlier for saying 'GD' bit…actually did happen. I said, well, wrote the Lord's name in vain…bad me…**

**PPPS— I'll get this edited later…okay enough of me! Now review!!!**


	10. AN: Tonsils removed but I'll update soon

Hey everyone, this is your friendly author speaking, well…actually writing, especially considering my throat is swollen, including my tongue…not sure how it got swollen but it is. How exactly did my throat and tongue get swollen…yes ladies and gents…I had my tonsils removed today. Yippie! I'm actually surprised to be awake right now, considering I went under and my pain medication I'm swallowing. I haven't actually done much today outside of sleeping and drinking icy liquids.

Anyways, I'm writing this AN to let y'all now what's going on and that I'm going to update this soon. I mean I am after all limited to a few things…like sleeping.

Huggles,  
Nollie

PS—For those who send me virtual ice cream and/or popsicles, let me say "THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU TO DEATH!" now.


	11. Chapter Nine: Visitors Part Two

**Hey everyone. It's me Nollie. I'm sorry if I didn't update as fast as I thought. I got depressed afterwards, like I did a year ago after my appendectomy, and really wasn't in much of a mood to do anything outside of sleeping, drinking (water of course) and reading some. Anyways, I finally got myself together and here is chapter nine…**

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Chapter Nine

**Visitors Part Two**

_Jasper's POV_

I smiled at Mary and Aaron, both of whom were hanging around at the nurses' station. I could tell that something was up because Mary was rubbing Aaron's shoulders.

"Hey you two, what's cracking?" I never really understood that saying but it normally got some crazy funny response out of Aaron and a funny response out of Aaron meant everything was right in the world…for the most part.

"Dr. Tisdale rescheduled Aaron's surgery for next week," Mary said.

Uh-oh, I thought, leaning against the nurses' station beside them. I already knew that Dr. Tisdale had rescheduled for next week because we were to stop some of Aaron's medication because they would affect his recovery.

"So?" I asked. "We knew that the surgery was going to happen. We after all want to remove the tumor."

Mary flinched as Aaron leaned against Mary, his hand squeezing hers.

"He scheduled it on my birthday," she whispered.

It was my turn to wince.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to," I said.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to either," Mary said, running a hand over Aaron's hairless head. She looked up at me and whispered, "Aaron asked him to reschedule for the day after my birthday."

"But it's been rescheduled one too many times already," I pointed out.

"That's what Dr. Tisdale said," Aaron said, closing his eyes.

Mary kissed Aaron's forehead and whispered that everything will be alright. I watched her comfort him for a few minutes before Aaron leaned off of her shoulder.

Sighing, Aaron shrugged. "I guess, being tumor-less will probably be the best birthday gift ever," he said in a pure Aaron like way.

Mary smirked slightly and shook her head.

I chuckled. "To think, Aaron will be tumor less and Mary will be having totally new bone center and all before next weekend."

Mary blushed as Aaron raised a hairless eyebrow at her.

"Doc H scheduled by bone-marrow transplant for next week…the day after my birthday," she said.

"And why wasn't I informed of this?" Aaron gasped, pressing a hand to his heart in fake hurt.

"Please," Mary said, rolling her eyes. "I was only told yesterday when my parents suddenly showed up at the hospital. They found a recent bone marrow donator and…it matched mine."

Aaron squealed like a little girl and hugged Mary. I laughed watching Aaron swing Mary around.

"That means that in just like a few more days we can blow this Popsicle stand," Aaron whispered, holding Mary's face, his eyes sparkling with emotion.

Mary's low lip quivered and she smiled up at him. I turned my head away about a second too late, catching Aaron kiss Mary softly. Looking away though, I spotted a bunch of people spill out of the elevator. They appeared to be about sixteen, possible seventeen or eighteen, and totaled five people—three guys, two girls.

I frowned as they noisily argued with each other, at least the guys, over something. One of the girls, a dark haired, pinked cheeked girl pushed her glasses up nervously as she bit her lip. In the other arm, the one that didn't push up her glasses, held a few books and a couple DVDs.

"Why the hell did that information lady send us all up in the dying ward for?" I heard the other female ask, butting into the boys' conversation.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" I asked, pulling away from the desk, folding my arms.

They all looked at me.

"Yeah, sorry, we're just on the wrong floor," the girl said, smiling up at me. I fought a sudden urge to shiver, feeling as though she was tempting to flirt with me.

"Who are you looking for? I can help you find the correct floor then," I said, walking around the nurses' station, wanting nothing more to put something between me and the teenagers.

"Isabella Swan," the other female said softly.

My hand froze over the keyboard and looked back up at them.

"What made you think that she isn't on this floor?" I said, resting my hands on the table.

One of the guys, a blonde who appeared to be an athlete by the fact he was wearing a basketball letterman, snorted. "Because this is for those whose bodies have gone all freaky on them and Bella is just sick."

I narrowed eyes at them, about to snap at them for their ignorance. And I thought Edward was an idiot when first meeting Bella. But before I could say anything, Mary spoke my mind for me.

"Excuse me, but we are not some freaks who are going to die," she said, storming towards them.

Aaron quickly grabbed Mary by the shoulders and pulled her towards him. She didn't fight him, but I could see the steam coming out of her ears.

"Miss Swan _is_ on the floor," I said to the teenagers in front of me. "I'll have to go ask her if she's up to visitors though."

"Is she okay?" asked the only girl who was rubbing me the right way, pushing up her glasses again.

I could see genuine concern for Bella. "She hasn't been feeling well considering everything she's going through."

She nodded slowly, looking at the countertop.

"I'll be right back," I said to the group, heading towards Bella's room, and then turned to Mary. "Don't kill anyone Mary."

"Darn Jazz, I could have grounded them up and eat them down stairs in the cafeteria," she half joked.

Aaron snorted. "Are you sure you haven't already? We all know that cafeteria food sucks."

I smirked and rolled my eyes, leaving them alone…silently praying that Mary doesn't do anything rash. She got in some trouble the last time idiotic visitors came up to the ward. I think the poor guy had to do to the ICU for a couple of days.

I knocked softly on Bella's door and peeked into the room. Edward and Alice were still with her, watching as Bella sipped from her cup. She looked up at me when I mentioned her name.

"There are some…_people_ here to see you," I said, watching her carefully.

Edward turned to look at her, a slight frown forming on his forehead. My Alice also looked at her, curious. As though I could feel it, I could tell that Bella was confused and slightly hurt.

"Who's here to see me?" she asked, handing her cup over to Alice for a refill.

"Some kids," I said. "And I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they are some kids from your school."

Alice quickly caught the cup as it slipped through Bella's fingers, Bella gapping at me.

"Do you want to see them?" I asked concern for Bella as she took the cup again from Alice with a shaky hand.

"Y-yeah…I guess," she said.

I stared at her for a second before nodding. I head back slowly to the front desk and bit back a laugh. Mary was having a stare down with the girl who flirted. Aaron was glaring himself at the three guys who were leaning against the nurses' station, trying to talk to April and Wilma, two other nurses.

"Bella's able to see you," I said, yanking on the blonde jock who was leaning over too far and able to glimpse at the computer screen, one that was currently running vitals of a some of the patients.

"Hey what the hell was that for?" he ask, as I pushed him towards the girl that Mary was glaring down at.

"HIPAA, that's what," I stated, not about to get myself or the other two nurses fired for a idiot who happened to see something he shouldn't have. **(AN: trust me, it's a good thing we have HIPAA. I happened to have ran across a file last Christmas when I was working at medical records of someone I knew…just imagine what it would have been like if someone with a big mouth ran or worse someone who was vindictive ran across a file, knew that patient, and spread something that could be true or otherwise.)**

"Come on," I said, leading the five towards Bella's room, not really wanting to.

Bella's POV

I was curious as to who was visiting, considering Jasper didn't say who was there for me. I had a small hope that it was my parents but I had a feeling it wasn't. I looked down at my cup that I held in my hands in my lap. My own mother scared of her own daughter to even visit her and my father who couldn't handle emotions could handle unlawful people but not his own dying daughter.

There was another knock and I looked up in time to see Jasper open the door. I felt my eyes go wide as I stared at five people I didn't expect to come visit me.

"Angela, Jess, Mike, Eric, Tyler…what are you guys doing here?" I asked, trying to sit up some more but the cup I held made it slightly difficult to do that.

Edward, to my surprise, helped me. I looked up at him, my heart stuttering at how close he was. I could smell what I was assuming was his aftershave, but it wasn't an aftershave that I typically smelt.

"Oh God, Bella!" Jessica said, gasping. Her hands went up to her mouth. I was wondering if she was covering it because she had a sudden urge to throw up. I didn't think I looked that bad.

"God, Bella, what did you do this time?" was what came out of Mike's big mouth.

I gapped at him. I never really liked Mike in the same way that he did towards me but when he said things without thinking, it made me want to sock him good. It seems that I wasn't the only person.

"What she did this time was letting you asshole visit," Alice fumed, putting her hands on her hip. "Couldn't you be a bit more considerate considering Bella is ill? Oh wait, I guess it's isn't programmed into your DNA to be so just like Bella's DNA isn't perfect."

Way to go Alice! I was majorly cheering in the inside, happy for possibly the first time in awhile. Mike gapped like a fish out of water, my other high school mates also shocked and out of place. Jasper was smirking as well, winking once at Alice, who returned the smirk. Edward remained quiet.

Angela was the first to move, walking to my desk to put down what she had been carrying.

"I figured you would be bored here…so I brought some DVDs for you to watch," she said softly.

She turned to look at me and smiled at her. Angela was possibly one of my only true friends in Forks, not really caring about my popularity, which was something I wasn't use to. She was always the type of person, no matter how sick you were, she would bring you a big bowl of "Get Well" chicken noodle soup. And it was homemade soup, not the half assed condensed soup, which is good, but not good enough when one was sick.

"Thanks Angela," I said, welcoming the hug she gave me. "You have no idea how bored crazy I have been since I have arrived here."

Finally, the others gained motor functions. It doesn't appear that they took into heart anything that Mike because the next thing that was said came from Tyler.

Tyler walked to the front of my bed and nudged it with his knee, the hospital bed moving. "How have you been, Bella?" he asked, genuine concern which was part touching…and part upset. Could he not see just how I have been? He did have two eyes. I wondered if he had them checked in the past year.

I was about to open my mouth when Edward answered, much to my dislike though what he said was what I was going to say. "If you look at her, you can see for yourself just how she's been." I threw a quick glare at him before taking a sip from my glass.

"What have they been doing to you, Bella?" Eric asked.

God, are all guys this stupid or just the guys in Forks. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes.

"I have been receiving treatment," I said.

"What type of treatment makes you look like you have been through hell and back?" Jessica asked, rolling her eyes.

I felt my eyes start to prick in a sudden urge to cry and when my throat started to close up only confirmed my suspicion that the waterworks were about to start if they didn't leave any time soon.

"Okay, that's it!" Alice snapped. She pointed a finger at Eric, Jessica, Mike and Tyler and then at the door. "Out! You're upsetting Bella and that is one thing that she doesn't need right now."

The four people that were thrown out by Alice all started to complain to Alice, asking just who she was and what right did she have to boss them around. Jasper, who had managed to disappear for a few minutes sometime after Alice's first defense against me and about the time she threw my classmates out of my room, suddenly ushered in security.

"I'm so sorry about them, Bella," Angela whispered as everyone left the room, except for Edward.

"It's not your fault," I said, leaning back against my bed, relaxing against my pillow.

"I should go catch up with them," she said, looking at the door. "They were after all…my ride here."

I tried to smile at her and let her know that it was okay, that I understood.

"Angela…Bella really does seem to enjoy your company," Edward said, causing me to jump. I totally forgot about him being in the room. "How about if my sister and I give you ride home?"

Angela smiled up at Edward, who leaned against the wall behind me. "Really? You don't really know me and Forks is three hours away."

Edward smiled and it did weird things with my heart.

"It's okay," Edward said.

When Alice returned a few moments later, Edward informed her of them driving Angela back. While it didn't seem Alice didn't have a trouble with them driving Angela back, she did seem confused for some odd reason. I looked at Edward, my eye lids heavy. Maybe Edward isn't a complete jerk as I first made him out to be. I shifting my eyes to look at the huge bear that Edward brought with him. Maybe not a jerk…at all…

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**I'm so glad that I'm almost fully recovered. The more I'm able to eat, the less depressed I get…slightly. You don't know how long of a list I have of foods I want to try. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter. It was difficult to write when I was down in the dumps. I had to kick myself to write it. So, what you guys waiting for? Review please and thank you.**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS— I recently decided to post a link on my webpage and my profile to my Twitter account. I have been having one since March, though it wasn't until recently did I start to use it. It's a great way to keep up with what's going on daily with me, outside of my MySpace, and also a great way to talk to me. So I don't mind if you follow me, though I'm a tad cautious because it's slightly personal and I have my real first name on it.**


	12. Chapter Ten: Going, Going, Gone to Fork

**Hey you guys!!! (Sorry, had PBS kids on and **_**The Electric Company**_** was on, and now I have "Hey you guys!" stuck in my head –sigh–) Just wanted to let y'all know that **_**Lessons of the Heart**_**…yes this story, was nominated for ****Immortal Cookie Awards**** for Best Angst (K—T). Thanks to whoever nominated me, it was a great honor. But I doubt I'll win, there are after all far better stories than mine.**

**Anyways, in this chapter, Edward and Alice get some history about Bella from Angela and **_**another**_** main **_**Twilight**_** character is introduced. Enjoy!**

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Chapter Ten

******Going, Going...Gone to Forks**

_Edward's POV_

I realized exactly why I hated high school and students_ in_ high school when seeing Bella's 'friends' visit her. The guys were idiots and girls were petty and jealous. And Bella's 'friends' if you can call them that just proved my point, except for the girl named Angela.

I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"God, I am so _glad_ we aren't in high school anymore," Alice said, voicing my own thoughts as she leaned against the wall beside me as we waited for Angela to finish her visit with Bella. It shouldn't take much longer, after all, Bella was pretty much about to snore when Alice decided to drag me out of the room to give Angela a few minutes with Bella.

"You were pretty kick ass though, getting those morons out of here," I said, looking at her.

Alice smiled and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Well you were very sweet offering Angela a ride home," she said, resting her head against my arm.

I blushed and wanted so desperately to shrug it off but Alice's head, again, was against my arm.

"Well I think that has been the most drama we have seen up here in a couple decades," Jasper joked.

I rolled my eyes as Alice giggled.

Just then, to my right, Bella's door opened. I turned my head and watched as Angela gave Bella a quick closed-mouth smile before closing the door behind her.

"I'm, uh, ready to go," she said, nervously fiddling with her shirt.

Alice quickly gave Jasper a chaste kiss on his cheek and told him that she'll call him as soon as we got to Forks. I lead both girls towards my Volvo, a gift given to me when I passed my driver's licenses exam, which was located in the visitors' parking lot.

"So exactly how long have you known Bella?" Alice asked as soon as I pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

Angela shrugged. "Not very long actually," she said. I looked at her out of my rearview mirror. She was looking around the window. "She had just moved from Phoenix in the spring."

Alice looked at me, her face emotionless…except for her eyes. There was sadness swirling within them.

"So how did you two meet after she moved?" I asked, keeping the conversation going.

Angela smiled and looked forward. "She was actually sitting at our lunch table when I first meet her. Mike…you met Mike, well he keep hitting on her and one day, she couldn't handle it." Angela snorted and I saw Alice break out in a small smile. "So she gets up but being uncoordinated she gets her feet tangled with her chair. Her tray goes flying all and the cafeteria's indefinable mac and cheese and I think was Brussels sprouts goes flying to cover Mike, her milk pouring all over Lauren, and her delicious peach cobbler lands on my head."

"Wow," Alice said. "Wait…your cafeteria serves Brussels sprouts?"

"Once a mouth, normally when they make their peach cobbler," Angela answered. "Anyways, Bella felt so bad for me that she keep asking if there was something for me to do. Finally, mostly to shut her up, I asked her if she could help me with my English homework. Bella is the biggest book worm ever, I figured that helping me with my English homework would easy and she can stop apologizing. Since then, we've been friends. Not the best of friends but friends say the less. I can normally tell when something is bothering her and she's got two good ears to listen to me when I have an issue."

Alice turned around and flashed Angela a smile.

"You sound like me and my friend Rosalie," she said.

I smirked at the memory of how Rosalie came into our lives. Alice knows squat about cars and happened to have broken down on the side of the road. She called Emmett to help her out, Emmett being my best friend, a player, and car enthusiastic knucklehead. Only Emmett was running late because he got busy flirting with some girl. Rosalie saw Alice kicking the tire of her Porsche and decided to pull over and help her out. Finally when Emmett got there, Alice's car was fine and laughing with Rosalie. Emmett took one look at Rosalie and his days as a player were over.

Rosalie was Emmett's perfect half. She was smart, witty, and serious. She had her own set of baggage, one that Emmett was more than enough to carry, especially considering he could bench twice his own weight.

"So how did you two come to know Bella?" she asked.

"I meet her one day while volunteering at the hospital," Alice said. "My godmother was showing her around and I was really taken to her."

"I meet her via this little pixie," I said, pointing a thumb at Alice.

Alice turned and looked back at Angela, smirking. "Yeah, that's the only way he has friends, is if he meets them through me."

"I take it he's antisocial?" Angela asked.

"No…he's just a huge jerk and a player," Alice retorted.

"Hey that 'jerk' is right here!" I said.

Alice and Angela giggled, causing me to smile. I caught out the corner of my eye, Alice look at me, a soft smile on her face.

"What?" I said, glancing at her quickly.

"Nothing," she said, smiling still.

I rolled my eyes.

"So tell us about Forks," Alice said. "I bet it must be some town."

Angela laughed. "Sure, if you don't mind driving an hour to see a movie or three plus hours to go to a _good_ mall."

Alice gasped, pretty loud causing me to jump and swerve.

"Alice! Don't do that!"

"Sorry, but…they don't have a _mall_!"

"I take it she's a shopaholic?" Angela asked.

"If there was a Mall-a-topia, Alice would be the Queen of said country," I teased.

"Guilty," Alice said, smiling happily.

Angela shrugged. "It's not a big deal for me, I don't get invited to much…maybe a movie once and awhile. Me and my boyfriend normally just got to Port Angeles to see a movie when we want, the rest of the time, we just sit in each other's company."

"Aw," Alice said. "You sound like me and my boyfriend."

"Minus the shopping," I muttered. "By the way, has mum meet Jasper?"

"Yes and she heartily approves of him, father too."

"How did I not know you had a boyfriend until recently?" I whined. I after all was her older brother. Shoulder it be my duty to know about the man in my sister's life?

"Because you were more interested in your own personal life than others," she said.

I frowned, staring at the road. I felt the guilt eating at my gut at words. I knew that I wasn't the best brother in the world but I couldn't believe how out of touch with each other we were that I didn't know what was going on with my own sister, with my own parents even, I realized when I thought of when it was the last time I talk to my parents.

"I take it you two are brother and sister?" Angela asked.

"Adopted, but we say we are. We _were really_ close," Alice said, glancing slyly at me.

Oh yeah, the guilt was eating at my gut like it had never eaten before.

For the rest of the ride down to Forks, Alice and Angela chatted about their dislikes, likes, and some pretty random things that I was a bit confused on for the most part. I added my own two cents when asked a direct question or the subject was something that I enjoyed to talk about. Roughly two and half hours, we were within miles of Forks.

"Uh, you might want to slow down," Angela said, leaning forward. "Bella's father happens to be the chief of police and about a mile or two out of town, they like to hide for un-expecting 'city slickers' as he calls them."

I glanced down at the speedometer and let my foot off the gas when I realized I was a good twenty miles over the speed limit. Sure enough, around a bend, I spotted a marked police car. I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw that Angela wave out the side window. I smiled and looked forward.

Angela had been kidding about how small the town was. There was only one main road that everything was pretty much located off of and like one stoplight.

"Hey, do you mind if I stop for gas now?" I asked, stopped at the said only Forks' stoplight, spotting in the distance what I was guessing the only gas station in town.

"Yeah sure," Angela said. "The house isn't too far from the gas station."

I nodded and hit the gas. I was glad that the station was at least covered, because as Angela had said on the way down, Forks was one of the rainiest cities in the entire country. I wasn't sure, considering I did live in Seattle and Seattle was known for being the suicidal city in the country.

I pulled out my credit card and had just scanned it when a beat up car pulled in. I watched as gas started to pump into the Volvo as a bunch of dark skinned boys got out of the car. The driver was the first to get out followed by two in the back, both of whom went inside to pay for the gas. The front passenger leaned out side of the open driver's window.

The driver laughed at something that the guy leaning out the window said. The driver pulled out the nozzle from the pump and stuck it into his heap of junk. He turned around and looked at me.

"Nice car," he said. His voice was husky, reminding me of one of my former teachers who use to be a chain smoker.

"Thanks," I said, as Alice opened her door and walked around the hood.

"I'm hungry, want anything inside?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Not really but get me something just in case," I answered.

"Okay," she said, walking towards the convenience store.

"Girlfriend?" the guy asked.

"Sister," I said. "She and I offered to drive Angela Weber home."

"Hi Angela!" the guy shouted, leaning over the gas pump and into the back seat of the Volvo.

"Hi Jacob," Angela said after opening her door to talk to him.

"Did you…" Jacob trailed off.

Angela smiled sadly and nodded.

"How is she?"

"She's…she's managing," Angela said as Alice walked towards the car carrying a plastic bag.

The guy who Angela called Jacob walked around the pump and gave Angela a hug.

"Thanks," Angela said, returning it before turning to me and Alice, both of us waiting the friendly action. "This is Edward and Alice Cullen, they were visiting Bella today and offered me a ride home."

"Oh, you guys know Bella?" the guy asked.

"I meet her while volunteering," Alice answered.

"Bella's father and mine are old friend, almost brothers," Jacob explained. "I haven't been able to visit Bella since she's been admitted because I have to help my father around."

"It's okay Jacob," Angela said. "Bella understood you couldn't visit her. She says 'hi' by the way."

Jacob rolled his eyes but smiled none the less.

"I hope I can visit her this weekend, if not then I'll take dad with me."

"Maybe you can kidnap Charlie," Angela muttered.

That caused Jacob and his 'crew' of friends to burst out laughing. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Alice. She shrugged and whispered, "Charlie is a cop. Remember? Who would kidnap _a cop_?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. The nozzle clicked letting me now that the tank was full. I removed it and put it back away as. Angela noticed that I was done filling up and decided to go.

"Well I have to get home and help my mother with dinner and such," Angela said. "It was great to see you Jacob."

"You too," Jacob said, hugging Angela again. "I'll try and call Bella to talk to her."

Angela smiled. "She'll like that, especially if you can see her."

Jacob chuckled and let Angela go after saying good bye to each other. I returned to my own seat behind the driver's wheel when I noticed that Alice had gotten in the car yet. I turned and spotted Alice talking quickly to Jacob. I frowned and wondered what she could be talking about, especially when I noticed that Alice pull out her cell phone. Jacob smiled at Alice before waving bye to her as she skipped towards the Volvo.

"What was that all about, Alice?" I asked as I pulled away from the gas station.

"Oh nothing," Alice said, smirking as she closed her phone and placed it into her purse.

I raised an eyebrow at her, watching as she applied a fresh coat of her favorite strawberry lip gloss and knew that she was up to something. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what that something was. After all Alice could be pretty secretive and devious when she wants to be…which is pretty much majority of the time. After all…she _is_ Alice!

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**So tell me what you guys thought? I finally introduced Jacob to the story, at least for a few minutes. I'm actually going to bring him back I think in…two chapters from this one if not three…I'm not sure yet. I'm also planning on introducing Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme…but I'm not sure when. But I do plan on them being in the story. Anyways, tell me what you think!**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS—Any errors that I didn't notice, let me know. Please…I probably didn't even notice I made them. I swear…I have dyslexia, for which I am actually getting tested for.**

**PPS—By the way, **_**again**_** thanks to whoever nominated this story for the ****Immortal Cookie Awards****. I'm honored though I don't think I'm going to win. We'll see what the judges say in July…**


	13. Chapter Eleven: Puppy Love

**I am dedicating this chapter to MaralynneKWhitlock's twin cousins who both have leukemia. Rorie passed away from the disease and Kate recently relapsed. I'm praying for her and her family, that Kate makes it. Remember that on the Lessons of the Heart page on my website, there is a remembrance wall for all those who have or previously did have diseases.**

**I also suggest while looking at the page, to listen to two new songs I added to the "play list." Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Jake and Seth are in it with a special surprise…**

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**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Chapter Eleven

**Puppy Love**

_Bella's POV_

Today was Mary's birthday and the day of Aaron's surgery to remove his tumor. The entire floor was on pins and needles all day - Alice especially. She had planned a party about a month and half ago for Mary but with the scheduled surgery, Alice had toned it down a bit. Well, a lot actually. She didn't mention "birthday" or "party" whenever Mary or Aaron was within hearing distance, but she didn't plan for a small party where the entire floor was invited. She had everything planned out to a T, including some surprise. She would often smirk at me when she thought I wasn't looking. I was unsure of that smirk.

I was thinking of that smirk when Jasper knocked at my doorframe.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, leaning against the same doorframe.

I gave him a tiny smile. I was feeling slightly better, not feeling all of the effect of the chemotherapy. I was still weak at times, so I often found myself being assisted when out of bed. I told Jasper all this.

"Well, your day just might get better," he said. "You have some guests."

I was weary when he said "guests." The last time I had "guests," it wasn't the most positive experience.

"Trust me, you'll want to come greet these people," Jasper said.

Sighing, I let Jasper ease me into a wheelchair. I wondered just who was visiting me as we headed towards the nurses' station. I eyed the decorations that hung in the hallway.

"Alice really outdid herself," I whispered, watching as more and more streamers there seemed to be as we came closer to the station.

Jasper snickered. "Alice is hard to stop once she has her mind set."

"No kidding," I said. I had to make sure that Alice didn't find out about my birthday in 4 months. Although, deep down in my gut, I knew that Alice probably knew and was already planning some sort of big party. She had her unusual, if not sometimes unethical ways, of getting information.

I wondered idly who was visiting me. I received an email from my mother the other day, informing me of the new hobby she'd taken an interest to. Not once did she ask how I was; instead, she asked what I was up to. I typed a quick response, saying how she needed to be careful with this new hobby and that I wasn't up to much now an days, just finishing the last of my school work so I could graduate. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to be at graduation, but I was going to graduate.

I heard a deep, slightly familiar laughter along with a soft female tickling laughter, and opened my eyes to gasp at the sight of the two people laughing with one of the nurses dressed in Betty Boop scrubs. At the sound of my gasped, the tall tan figure turned

"Jake!" I said, sitting up straighter in the wheelchair.

Jake just smiled in his normal demeanor as Jasper wheeled me.

"Surprise!" Alice said, throwing her arms out as though she was requesting a hug.

"Oh my God, Jake, what are you doing here?"

"Well, you see, what had happened was," he started before Alice butt in.

"I met Jake when Edward and I drove Angela Weber back home that one day. And I figured that you needed a warm face," she said.

"Faces actually," Jacob said, smirking at something over my shoulder. I turned my head to see two people exit off the elevator.

"He seriously better not pee on me," I heard Edward mutter.

"Oh please, Bronze only peed on Paul because he grabbed her by the neck," I heard the familiar voice of Seth, one Jacob's tag along shadows. Jasper moved me so that I could see down the hallway.

"Aw, puppies!" I said, stopping the three puppies that were in the arms of Edward and not-so-little-anymore Seth.

"No party is complete without cute cuddly corgis," Alice said as Edward handed me one of the puppies in his arm.

"Aw, hello little guy," I whispered as the puppy pressed his paws into my chest in order to give my chin little puppy kisses.

"That's Leon you're holding," Seth said, putting down the corgi he was cradling in the nook of his arm. "And this darling is Bronze." I watched as the girl dropped the chew toy she held in her mouth and nudge it with her nose.

"And we can't forget about Rob," Edward said, putting down the second dog he held.

"Yes, we can't forget about our lovable Rob," Jake said.

I watched, petting Leon's fur, as Rob just sat there panting, his tongue lulled out one side of his jaw.

"Aw, really ,Jake," I said, holding puppy Leon to my chest, "they are so cute." I planted a kiss on Leon's head before gently placing him down on the ground in front of me.

I watched as little Leon scrambled over to where Bronze and Rob were. I chuckled as Leon went straight to Bronze and start to nudge her with his nose. Bronze just sighed and shuffled away from Leon, towards her chew toy. Leon, clearly either bored or determined to bother Bronze, went straight to her again, nudging her with his nose again. He stopped for a moment to give her a puppy smile and went back to nudging again. Bronze, to my delightful surprise, suddenly picked up her chew toy into her mouth and swung it at Leon. Repeatedly, I should add. Meanwhile, Rob just sat there still panting, looking cute and adorable.

"Yeah, Bronze is a tad…" Seth started.

"Insane?" Edward added.

"Violent?" Jake added.

Seth sighed and shook his head, picking up Bronze who refused to stop bashing poor Leon.

"Well, given the fact she just had to deal with a very pushy puppy, I'm sure her actions are justified," Alice said, folding her arms across her chest. Edward picked up Bronze who wandered over and scratched beneath her ears. She looked peacefully content just being in his arms, her tongue hanging out her mouth in pleasure.

"Anyways, you never actually said why you doing here?" I added.

"I was invited to a party," Jake said.

"Actually the puppies were invited," Alice said. "You just happened to be a tag along since they needed to be with an actual human."

Jake rolled his eyes as Rob shook his coat, some of his fur sticking out at odd angles. It sort of reminded me of Edward's hair. I snorted at that thought and looked up through my lashes at Edward who smiled as Bronze gave little puppy kisses along his chin. Watching the puppy love Edward, I wondered idly what Mary was doing that exact moment with her own love…

_Mary's POV_

I remember the first time I came to the hospital. I was nine and everything about the hospital scared me. I cried and cried and refused to let go of my mother when they told me they were leaving me there to go home. I cried myself to sleep that night and woke up screaming from nightmares.

I felt so alone until I meet Aaron. He was just this dorky kid, all lanky and annoying. He sat across from me at lunch and constantly kept stealing my food. I would end up shoving my food into my mouth just to keep it away from him. And when I was sick to my stomach during those long months during chemotherapy and when I _had_ hair, he would often keep flickering hair ties at me when I was over a toilet. I ended up stealing the hair ties so they would keep getting thrown at me.

It wasn't until after my first remission, staring up at my ceiling, that I realized what Aaron was doing. By stealing my food, he forced me to eat what the nurses couldn't make me eat. By throwing hair ties, he showed that he cared for me. Sure it wasn't the sweet gesture of holding back the girl's hair, but still… it was a kind gesture.

I never forgot Aaron during my first remission that last two years. I remember when I saw Aaron again. I was standing the nurses' station, after being readmitted, rubbing the toe of my converse into the tile, when I felt something flicked at me. I wiped my head and saw Aaron leaning against the wall just behind me.

"I figured you'll be needed that," he said, smirking.

I raised an eyebrow and looked down at my feet. There, underneath the toe of my converse, was a bright red hair tie. Rolling my eyes, I looked back at the nurse as she talked to my mum, smirking on the inside.

Even with a second remission and relapse, Aaron was there for me. He was my first everything. First bully, first protector from a bully… my first love. I remember when we first kissed. We snuck away from the nurses after my second relapse. I was about to start chemotherapy, though my doctors weren't so positive that it was going to work, already talking of adding me on the list, and Aaron wanted to show me something. He managed to find a stairwell that lead up to the roof top and there, under the veil of a cloudless night, we looked up at the stars.

I was impressed when Aaron started to point out the different constellations. He was pointing out the big dipper, one of the few I could point out, when I just pressed my lips against his. It was awkward and it only lasted for a second. We both leaned away from each other, looked away as well, but I was smiling. It was just as I expected. We, in the end, went back down to our ward, our nurses pissed at us, but we were somewhere between earth and heaven.

We had been living in that place between earth and heaven, but what comes up… has to come down.

I bit my lip, looking at Aaron as the nurses prepped him for surgery. Aaron glanced at me and rolled his eye.

"What are you worrying about now?"

"Who says I'm worrying?" I snapped. Damn Aaron. He knew what was going through my mind.

"Please, I'm pretty sure that ulcer you have is eating at your gut."

"Jerk," I muttered.

"Brat."

"Idiot."

"Spoiled."

"Pig."

"Mule."

"Mule?"

"Yeah, you're a stubborn mule."

I rolled my eyes and fought the smile that wanted to appear on my face.

"Oh ladies," Aaron said, glancing at the two nurses that were prepping him. "As much as I love the attention, there is one particular lady that needs it the most."

The two nurses exchanged knowing looks.

"Two minutes, Aaron," the brunette nurse said.

"Aw, you're killing me Sharon," Aaron said, placing a hand to his heart as though she wounded it.

I rolled my eyes as the two nurses chuckled and left the room. Aaron's eyes turned to as soon as the door was closed and were silently beckoning me to sit down besides him. I did just that, taking his hand into mine.

"Stop worrying," he said.

"Sure, sure," I muttered. "What is there to worry about? All they are going to go finish in your brain for a cancerous leach."

"Hey, if it wasn't for said leach we wouldn't be together," Aaron said. I sighed.

"Seriously Mary," he said, raising our combined hands to his lips to give me a kiss. "I'll be alright. You'll see. And afterwards, we'll get to have that _real_ first date."

I fought back the need to roll my eyes but a tiny smile did slip onto my lips.

Aaron sighed. "I know I'm all positive that nothing will go wrong," Aaron said, "but there is something I want you to have."

I glanced at him, curious and nervous at what could Aaron have to give me. He reached underneath his pillow and pulled out a light blue CD case.

"I thought you were Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky and everything will be alright?"

Aaron snorted. "I am," he said, rolling his eyes. "This—" he fanned himself with the case "—is more for your benefit than mine."

I shook my head and reached for the case. He snatched the CD from within my grasp.

"Before I give it to you, a few words," he said.

"_Fine_," I whined. "God, you are so pushy."

Aaron snickered.

"No matter what happens, I want you to listen to this CD as soon as my doctor's leave the OR," he said, fanning the case in my direction. "You got to promise me not to listen to it a second more or else I'll haunt you died or alive."

I smirked and envisioned Aaron as a ghost.

"And the second thing is… you have to enjoy your birthday party," he said.

"Okay, I promise," I said. "Now give me that case."

Aaron was smiling at me as he handed over the blue CD case just as the nurses came back in.

I looked down at the CD that seemed to be pulsing in my hands. Aaron made me promise to enjoy my birthday. But I personally wasn't sure how I was going to do that when my true love might not come back…

* * *

**Okay…that wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be…writing the chapter I mean. Sorry about the long wait for an update. Life has been mega crazy. Been working, trying to get better physically though my body seems to hate me, and don't get me started on school. I just transferred schools and enrolling for classes is like hell on earth. Anyways, I promise the next update won't take long. I'm pretty sure I'll have eager puppies XD. Review and let me know what you think of the chapter and what you think may happen next…**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS—Thanks to (the human not puppy) Leon for editing this. He didn't have to but he was a sweetie and did it anyways. And lol it was partly his idea for the puppy names. I had to come up with a puppy name and Bronze said Leon and Leon said Rob...so ya I got three for the price of one XD And they got a cameo of sorts.**

**PPS—also I'm on pins and needles regarding this story, mostly because it's being judged for an award…and lord knows…**

**PPPS—Last one I swear! I have a little debate with a _fellow_ author about which corgi puppy was the cutest. So go to my profile and vote which corgi is the cutest. I'll label each puppy after the voting ends…which I think the voting will end the next time I update.**


	14. Chapter Twelve: The bittersweet gift

**EP! _"Lessons of the Heart"_ was runner up for the Immortal Cookie Awards Best Angst K-T!  
Here's what was said about 'LotH':  
**_"The topic of this fanfiction was incredibly deep and serious, and yet you managed to keep it realistic, and it was very tastefully written. You could really understand the character's pain, especially as the story was written through Bella's eyes."_

**I'm was on cloud nine to here that I got second place. Congrats to xxsparklesnickxx's _Natural Defense Mechanism_. I suggest y'all go on and read it.**

**Anyways, onto my update. Personally…I…_HATED_…writing this chapter. Every word just cut at my raw emotions…I would suggest that you have chocolate, ice cream, a box of tissues handy, or a shoulder to cry on…**

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

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Chapter Twelve

**The bittersweet gift**

_Mary's POV_

I wanted so much to scratch out the nurse's eyeball out when she interrupted Aaron leaning in to kiss me. Aaron chuckled and pressed his lip to my forehead.

"Be nice," he whispered as I slipped off his bed.

"Sure, nice is my middle name after all," I muttered.

He smirked. "Yeah, sure, just as sarcasm is your last name," he said as the nurse moved to the head of the transport bed.

I rolled my eyes and pressed the CD case to my chest. I made promises to Aaron, one that I knew I could keep even if it seemed to constant reminder in my hand of our uncertain future, and the other one that I could only try to keep. How can one try to celebrate their birthday when their love is having a risk operation to remove a tumor?

_Bella's POV_

I was hugging Bronze to my chest, partly because she was just the cutest, but also I think poor Leon may have a concussion from her second time whacking him with her dog toy.

"I hope Mary loves them," Alice said, kissing Leon's poor head for the millionth time. I swear she thought her kisses were going to heal him. Leon constantly trying to turn his head around to give her little puppy kisses. Rob, on the other hand, was a lazy ass dog that was soaking up the attention from the ladies. Of course, he probably was some stud among all the bitches back in the doggie kettle.

"Loves what?"

We all turned to find Mary, one eyebrow raised in question. Behind her Aaron was slowly being pushed by one the nurses. For a moment it was a really somber moment, at least it was until Aaron opened his mouth.

"Okay, who brought the corgis?" Aaron said, smirking.

Everyone pointed at Alice, who just smiled and wiggled Leon's paw in a wave towards Aaron.

"I should have guessed it was you who brought Mary's favorite dog," Aaron laughed.

I saw Mary fight a smile as she took Leon from Alice. Leon was all kissy kiss with Mary, who fought off most of Leon's attempts, but no one could resist his charms for long.

"Well I wish I could stay long, and even wish I could pet a dog, but I'm sure that the pre-op staff would smack me silly for delaying the surgery even longer. I mean come on it's been pushed off for how many months now? A few minutes couldn't hurt, no?"

"Aaron Lowe Mathews," the nurse said, glaring down at him.

"Ouch, full name, I take that as a 'no' or that I'm in trouble."

"You will be if I don't get you down to pre-op," she said.

"Okay, but there is one more thing I need to do," Aaron said.

I could see that the nurse was wanting to argue with Aaron but no one could deny that soft sweet look in Aaron's eyes as he started at Mary, who handed Leon to Seth.

It was a touching, sweet moment as Aaron brought Mary's head down to his and kissed her. It wasn't a heated passion kiss that made the blood race and pull down south. It was the type of kiss that was sweet, tender, probably would make all the girls swoon and the guys gag.

It was the type of kiss that spoke nothing but love.

It didn't last but a moment but that much I knew. There were no two souls more in love than the ones right in front of me.

I didn't realize I was crying until Edward passed me a tissue.

"Thank you," I mouthed to him.

He nodded and took Bronze from my arms so I could dry my eyes and then offer my comfort to Mary, who started to sob as the nurse pulled Aaron away. I covered hugged my arms around her shaking frame as she turned into Alice's shoulder.

We all watched as the nurse and Aaron waited for the elevator. It felt like a lifetime, the dig of its arrival sounding ominous. Mary gasped and pulled away from Alice and I as the nurse turned so she backed into the empty elevator. One couldn't see his expression with his eyes down cast at his hands in his lap, but anyone could see the red from the unshed tears that formed at his lashes. My heart broke at his pained expression and clutched at Alice as Mary took a few steps in his direction.

"Yo, bastard," Mary shouted across the room at him.

Aaron looked up at her, his mouth slightly agape at her.

"What? No 'I love you'? God, I can feel the love!" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Aaron broke out into a smile and started to laugh as the elevator doors closed. Mary stood, hands on hips, until the doors closed slide close. Right before Aaron disappeared from sight, he smiled and mouthed very clearly, "I love you, Mary."

Mary's lower lip started to tremble as the doors closed with a soft metallic thud. Inhaling sharply, Mary turned slowly and faced everyone.

"So… I heard there was a party happening today?" she joked, though her eyes showed a deep sadness.

"Yeah in the kitchen," Jasper said, offering her a hand.

"Good, cause I need some chocolate," Mary whispered, taking it.

"Alice made sure there was a ton of chocolate in the cake."

"Hey, only the best for the birthday girl," Alice said in defense. "Whatever she wants she gets."

Mary smiled slightly.

"Anything? So if I want to cry I can?"

"Sure!" Alice said, waving a hand as though she was waving something annoying away. "After all, it's your party, you can cry if you want to."

"Isn't that a name of a song?"

I heard a chuckle from beside me and looked up to see Edward there, holding a semi-sleepy Bronze. Handing her back to me, he stepped behind my wheelchair and pushed me to follow the others.

_Aaron's POV_

I waited until the elevator doors closed fully before letting the tears fall.

"You know, she did have the bastard part right," the nurse said.

I sighed.

"What? You are," she said, folding her arms. "You have known that the chances of you surviving this surgery and yet you are keeping her hopes up."

"I didn't want her to cling to me in an attempt to keep me there," I whispered softly, knowing exactly what Mary would have done if she knew I kept the truth from her.

I looked up at the numbers as they slowly flickered on and off as we passed each floor, and prayed silently that Mary would forgive me.

**One hour later…**  
_Doctor's POV_

I scrubbed my hands and forearms with the yellow soap, my thoughts on the patient. The entire stuff knew exactly the existent of the pineal tumor that occupied Mr. Aaron Lowe Mathews's brain, having gone over his file with a fine toothed comb. We thought it was best that he decide against the surgery, have more chemotherapy in hope to shrink the tumor. A lost hope, he called it and decided to go ahead with the surgery, knowing the chances.

Sighing, I finished my disinfecting and sterilizing and headed into the OR, my arms not touching anything until I got sterilize gloves.

"Good morning everyone," I said, two OR nurses helping me put on the gloves.

As protocol demanded, one of the nurses read the patient's name, his diagnoses and exactly what we were doing here. All the things that we already knew.

"Alright," I sighed, stepping towards the operating table, taking my position at where we were going to operate.

Skin cleaned with iodine stared back at me, the final reminder of what I was about to do.

"Let's get started," I said and called for my first instrument to be laid in my hand.

**Two hours later…**  
_Bella's POV_

I bit my lip and watched as Mary smiled slightly as she showed off the most recent gift that she just opened—another wig this one reminded me of that DeVil woman from 101 Dalmatians. Everyone laughed at Leon who jumped on the table that held all the gifts and started to growl at the silly wig before Seth snatched him into his arms as he made a leap to attack it.

So far Mary had been able to keep the tears at bay but I could feel the sadness radiating from her. Her smiles weren't as full as they normally were, and there was this deep sadness that shown in her eyes when she wasn't looking at anything particular.

Alice made sure that Mary was either with someone at all times or was doing something at all times. I'm sure she did that in hope that she could keep Mary's mind off the one person she wanted desperately to be there.

"Okay this gift is from…" Alice paused for a moment to read the tag on the small gift bag "…from Aaron."

Mary snapped her head in Alice's direction, her eyes wide. Alice, not wanting to depress Mary anymore, held onto the gift instead of giving it to her.

Good ol' Jasper, he seemed to have known exactly - always did. He stepped towards Alice and took the gift. He leaned down to whispered to something to Alice who looked at the ground and nodded.

"I remember when," Jasper said, walking towards Mary, holding the long rectangular box in his hands, "Aaron bought this. You know being a typical guy, we don't generally know what to get a girl. I mean, we know about the flower gifts and the chocolate candy gifts. Oh, and can't forget the jewelry gifts. But besides that we're totally clueless."

"He would know," I thought I heard Alice mutter causing a few people to chuckle, including Edward. I glanced up at him, confused.

He leaned down and whispered, his lips brushing my ear as he did so, "Alice actually wrote out a list entitled 'What to give Alice list.' She actually rewrites it often and then gives each person who's sadly either a relative or friend a list."

I smiled. That somehow sounded just like Alice.

"Well Aaron, like typical guy, was surfing the web for a gift. I think he was just about to give up when he came across this."

Jasper handed over the box to Mary who looked somberly at the box.

"You were his life," Jasper said, rubbing one of Mary's shoulders.

I saw the box shake in her hands from where I sat and wanted desperately to go over and give her a hug.

Nodding, Mary slowly undid the little red bow and opened the box. I couldn't see exactly what was in the box but I could see the tears silently falling from her eyes. A hand that had been shaking was now strong as it picked up a dainty little silver chain. I had seen the design before, two hands holding a heart that has a crown atop of it.

"It's a claddagh necklace," Jasper stated as Mary turned the necklace around. The heart, a beautiful deep ruby, winked in the light. "It's a tradition among the Irish to give a claddagh ring to their beloved as a token or sign of their love. Depending on how the ring was worn showed the wear's ability. Aaron knew you hated rings so he thought that a necklace would be a better gift for you."

Mary rubbed a fist against her eyes. "What do hands, heart, and crown stand for?"

"The hands means friendship, the heart means love, and the crown for loyalty," Jasper continued in his explanation.

"How do you know all of this, Jasper?" Edward asked.

"Wikipedia," Jasper said.

Mary undid the clasp of the necklace and refastened it around her neck. The necklace dipped beneath her shirt slightly but the crown could still be seen above the collar.

**Three hours later…**  
_Doctor's POV_

We had made slow progress and finally we came to see the monster.

"Oh my God," I heard a nurse whisper to my left.

I swallowed as I saw the worse possible scenario. The tumor, which we knew was being supplied blood, was larger than expected and surrounded completely around its source. One false move, our patient would be died within a few minutes. Inhaling, I said a silent prayer that this operation ended exactly as the Lord wanted…

**Four hours later…**  
_Mary's POV_

I never knew that a party could last this long. Alice had out done herself completely. Over the time personally, but she did do a good job. Fiddling with the necklace that Aaron gave me, I wondered over to where my parents and where Aaron's parents were.

Mr. and Mrs. Mathews were close with my parents, treating me as their own daughter. I meant them on Aaron's first birthday in the hospital. They were two great parents that loved their son deeply and they were two parents waiting silently for news about their son. They went down to the pre-op to stay with Aaron until they wheeled him away, but decided against waiting in the waiting room. They saw the party as a distraction on the depressing matter.

"Mary," Mrs. Mathews said, smiling softly up at me. "Happy birthday dear."

I smiled my thanks and sat down besides her. She took my hand, the one that wasn't fiddling with the necklace, and patted it.

"You shouldn't be worrying dear," she said, resting both of our hands on her lap. "Aaron wouldn't want you to be worrying."

"Aaron was always an optimist," I muttered.

She chuckled and patted my hand again. "Yes, yes he _is_."

I sighed.

"I'm just afraid," I stated.

She just tilted her head in a signal that she was listening so I continued on.

"I just have this feeling," I said, biting my lip. "Deep in my gut that something isn't right."

She nodded her head once.

I let out a shaky breath and inhaled deeply when suddenly my body went ridged as a chill came over me.

_Doctor's POV_

"Doctor!"

"We need to stop this bleeding!"

_Mary's POV_

"Are you alright Mary?" Mrs. Mathews asked, concern laced in her voice.

"No," I whispered. "No. Something…"

"Something what dear?"

"Something's wrong. Something just happened…something bad."

_Doctor's POV_

Hyperventilating, I stared at the sight before me, the machines letting out a continuous high pitched beep.

Inhaling a shaky breath, I called the time as I started stripping the bloody gloves off of me, and started mentally going over the speech I was going to have to be giving in a few minutes.

_Mary's POV_

I looked at Mrs. Mathews and whispered, "Aaron."

Her eyes went wide and then looked past me. I turned my head to stare at the open door.

There, standing in scrubs and surgical booties, was Aaron's doctor. I knew as the Mathews stood and the doctor headed to them, that something was definitely wrong. And when Mrs. Mathews let out a sob and collapsed into her husband's arms, I knew exactly what was wrong.

Aaron was dead.

The love of my life…was dead.

And I was completely and utterly alone.

* * *

"_Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creature of the world are wholesome, And there is not a destructive drug among them or any domain of the nether world on earth, For justice is undying."  
Wisdom 1: 13-15_

* * *

**First off, this is fiction (for the most part) and I'm no surgeon so I have no idea what actually goes on during surgery. I mean, the few times I've was a willing participant, I was knocked out cold on the operating table. So if anyone knows what I actually mean (times, terms, etc.) just let me know. For all I know someone's parents are neurosurgeons.**

**I have songs for this part of the story…I can't remember all of them, but check out the Lesson's of the Heart page soon (which by the way, yes I know that page is messed up…I'll fix it here soon…hopefully).**

**Anyways, go click the review button below and let me a review. Meanwhile, I'll work on the next update as soon as I can, but life has taken over my, well, life. LOL! I also have had recent diagnoses so I'm dealing with the fact of I have dyslexia and the changes that's made in school. So I'll update when I can…okay enough of my details!**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS—I bow down before the awesome Leon McFrenchington for beta-ing this! He's the greatest for taking on this story...and not strangling me for pestering for my chapter back.**


	15. Chapter Thirteen: My Angel

**Sometimes life gets complicated and overwhelming. I am back, writing. It's a bit difficult but I'm working hard not to let my stories go without an update like they had. Anyways, that being said…yes, Aaron is sadly no longer with us, but I would like to share this passage with y'all. It's fitting to remember during times of lost and death. Again it was posted last chapter but I think it's fitting none the less:**

"_Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creature of the world are wholesome, And there is not a destructive drug among them or any domain of the nether world on earth, For Justice is undying."  
Wisdom 1: 13-15_

**With that being said…here is the playlist for this chapter (in no particular order): **_**Breathe**_** by Superchick, **_**Crawl (Carry Me Through)**_** by Superchick, **_**Faith**_** by Jordan Sparks, and **_**Vanilla Twilight**_** by Owlcity. I had a few others but I can't remember them off the top of my head. If you have a song to suggest, let me hear it. Anyways…onward…**

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Chapter Thirteen

**My Angel**

_Bella's POV_

It was very sober moment as Aaron's mother collapsed into the arms of her husband, crying out. I bit back the tears that threatened to spill from my own eyes as I watched the woman cling to the man, the doctor looking like he was in pain. I couldn't even vision would he was going through, telling a mother and father that their son died while in his care.

I inhaled a shaky breath and looked around. Frowning, I turned and kept searching for Mary. Where the hell did she go? One moment she was standing there, looking creastfallen, and the next…

I grasped Edward's shirt and tugged.

"Mary," I whispered when he leaned down to give me his ear. I looked around once more with him.

He shook his head and nodded once toward the door. I nodded just slightly. Edward pushed me out of the room, which by then most of the guest dispersed to give the Mathews space to grief in private.

"Where do you think she could have gone?" Edward asked.

I wasn't sure exactly where she could have gone until I heard a very familiar voice over the loud speakers.

"Would Dr. Julia Harper please come to Mary Steven's room? Repeat would Doctor—"

"Nurses' station," I said.

Edward nodded once and started in that direction. Before the station even came into site, I could hear heat words being spoken.

"Mary you can't use the loud speaker like that."

"I don't care, I want Dr. Harper paged."

"I could have just—Where do you think you're going Stevens?"

"Mary," I half shouted as she turned on her heel and ran back to her room.

Without much prompting, Edward pushed me after her.

"What's going on?" Dr. Harper said as she stepped out of one of the rooms, closing a file close.

"Aaron died," I breathed as we slowed.

Her eyes flashed opened wide for a second before they closed, her bottom lip between her teeth. Sighing, she opened then again and quickly led the way to Mary's room.

"We knew that Aaron had a slim chance of surviving," Dr. Harper said, Edward following behind her while pushing me.

There was a loud crash of what sounded like metal against wood followed by another bang. Dr. Harper ran into Mary's room.

I gasped when Edward and I arrived. The room was totally trashed. Paintings that Mary and Aaron had done were ripped from the walls, some still hanging on up by tape from the corners. Mary's IV pole was laying on the floor near the bathroom, her mirror cracked. Her collection of wigs was thrown across the room, hanging from different items. I saw the wig that she was wearing when I first meet her hanging from leg of an overturned chair. Her bed was pushed against one wall, while Dr. Harper tried to subdue Mary.

"Mary," she repeated over and over as Mary fought her.

"No, I don't want," Mary whimpered, losing steam. "He promised. He promised me damn it."

I wanted nothing more than to comfort her but there wasn't much room to squeeze the wheelchair between the one wall and the bed, which was blocking part of the way.

"Mary, you need to relax. It won't do you a lot of good with—"

"He died, he promised me he won't. He promised to come back to me," Mary whimpered and sagged against Dr. Harper.

"Edward, can you help move Mary's bed? She should be lying down," Dr. Harper whispered, running her hand down Mary's wig, righting it before it fell completely off of her head.

I couldn't see Edward but he must have nodded. I watched as he pushed the bed away from the wall and towards the middle of the room, thinking of difference between the prick I first meet to the man who currently was helping Dr. Harper lift Mary into bed. He wouldn't have done that before. At least I didn't think he would have. It seemed like a matter of weeks, he was completely different.

Then again, so was I. Things like finding out you have cancer and may die would change a person. Good changes and then some.

"I know you're grieving Mary," Dr. Harper said, compassion lacing her gentle tone, "but you have to take care of yourself. You're about to have a bone transplant and you don't need the stress to compromise your already damaged immune system."

At her words, the depressed and heartbroken Mary turned her head and glared at Dr. Harper.

"I will _not_ have that surgery," she hissed.

"Mary," I whispered, desperately wanting nothing more than come to her side.

Edward must have sense this because he returned to me and pushed me into the room, now that the bed was no longer blocking the way.

"I can't live without Aaron," she stated, turning her head to stare up at the ceiling. "I won't have the surgery."

"You'll die without it, Mary," Dr. Harper stated. "You're body has not responded to the chemotherapy this time around and even if it did, chances are you won't remain in remission for long. You need this transplant."

"I don't care."

I glanced up at Edward, wondering what he was thinking. His face was emotionless as he stared at Mary, almost wearing the same mask as Mary.

"Aaron would have wanted you to have gone through with the surgery," I stated.

"I will not live without him."

Dr. Harper sighed. "I'm going to have to get your parents involved, Mary. They have the final say really, since you are still a minor. You know that they want you to live."

Mary refused to comment.

"Bring me closer Edward," I whispered, feeling tired and yet was going to put it aside for a moment.

As soon as I was beside Mary's bedside, I reached forward and gave Mary a good head bop on her forehead.

"Hey, what the fuck was that for?" she hissed, glaring at me.

"That is for you being stupid," I stated, getting angry with her. "You have a chance to live and make a difference and you're wasting it. There could be someone out there who might be in need of this transplant and would welcome it with joyous celebration and yet instead you are wasting it. How stupid and selfish are you Mary?

"Aaron knew the chances of the outcome of this surgery and he still proceeded with it because he wanted the chance to live, a chance to be with your forever. I sure he would be just as pissed at you as I am right now with you."

_Edward's POV_

Is it sad to say that I can't recall a single person I knew that had passed away? I have some memories of Esme crying when I was about four, surrounded in black, but I couldn't say that I was sad for loosing the person. So needless to say, I felt slightly awkward standing there in Mary's room as she cried for Aaron's death. Bella, fragile in her wheelchair, was giving her the best pissed off look she could give Mary.

"I can't live without him," Mary stated, glaring back at Bella.

I closed my eyes and turned my head away. I could almost hear Alice's words if she saw me now.

"_It would be just like you Edward to close your eyes and pretend that everything is okay. Well, it's not. You need to grow up and stop acting like a child."_

I bit my lip hard, trying to block out her voice that sounded in my head.

"_It's okay sometimes to show emotions."_

I opened my eyes, not wanting to witness the hurt and despair, and noticed something odd. There, against the wall, as if it had been flung, there was a jeweled colored CD case. There was a CD inside, the same color as the case, with mess handwriting that I saw before. _Aaron._

I walked over and picked it up, turning it over in my hands, unsure what to do. And, as if he knew someone would need a push, I read what Aaron wrote.

_Play me._

I looked up and glanced around. There, on her windowsill, was an overturned stereo.

"What…what are you doing?" Mary muttered as I headed over in the direction of the stereo.

I didn't answer her, which she clearly did not like for she shouted at me, "Hey, that's personal!"

I hit the button to open the CD player on the stereo and opened the case.

"Leave that alone! You have no right to mess with that!"

_Play me_. I inhaled, closing the player and clicked play.

"I told you that I—"

"_Being a hard ass again Mary?"_

I could feel the room freeze as Aaron's voice floated throw the speakers. I turned back and took in Mary's wide eyes, tears pooling around her lower lashes.

_Aaron chuckled. "Somehow that does not surprise me. You were rather passionate." Sigh. "And I guess if you are listening to this, I must not have been around to stop you. I am so sorry, Mary."_

Mary collapsed in her bed, hugging her arms around her chest as if to hold herself together.

"_I know that I probably promised that I would make it, which is something I will regret for a long time. I do hope that I get punished for that little lie…wherever I go. But I knew if I told you the truth, you would not want to live. And I'm sure you feel like that right now._

There was a slight pause, a brief muffled voice that made it appear that someone interrupted him while he was recording the track. There was another pause before he continued.

"_If you _do not_ have your transplant Mary, I'll never forgive you. You were meant to do so much in life. You were meant to touch and change lives for the better. Who are you denying by not living Mary?"_

Mary chocked on a sob, tears freely falling from her eyes now.

"_So you better live and change the world. And I don't want to hold you back. I want you to fall in love again, have a family. I know, you'll probably kill me for what I am saying, but I will totally let you hit me when we meet up again. And I won't even deny you that right._

"_I will always love you Mary, never forget that."_

"I love you too," Mary whispered.

There was a soft click as the CD came to an end. I sniffled, noticing for the first time that my cheeks were slightly wet from a few tears that fell. And I wasn't the only one either. Dr. Harper was having a hard time keeping herself together as well, pulling out a tissue from her pocket to offer to Bella. Bella blew her nose and dabbed the tissue under her wet eyes.

Mary inhaled a broken breath before releasing it shakily.

"God, I hate him," she whispered, running her hand down her face, wiping the wet tears with her fingertips.

She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing steadily. She opened them and looked at Dr. Harper.

"Let's erase whatever I've said in the last twenty minutes, okay? I better see my name on the surgery schedule."

Dr. Harper gave a tiny smile and nodded.

* * *

**According to a Jewish Proverb, What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul. Needless to say, I cried when I wrote this. Very emotional this story, if you haven't picked up on that already.**

**And speaking of this story, I have signed up for Fandom for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), donating two outtakes. One is a Mary and Aaron outtake while the other is an Edward and Bella outtake. I'm not entirely sure just yet what I am going to write for the Edward and Bella one, but I'm all over the other one for awhile now. I hope that you will join the cause as well and donate.**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS- not edited...it will be though! Send me errors in PM if you see any.**


	16. Outtake: Monopoly: Edward vs Bella

**So when I donated this Bella and Edward outtake for Fandom 4 LLS, I had to think about it for awhile. I had to make sure that it fit in _Lessons of the Heart_ where I am going to have the outtake taken but also it could be tied into a future chapter I have an idea for. And then it came to me one night when I was playing around with my brother. Needless to say, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Playlists for this outtake (in no order): _"Radio Ballet"_ by Eluvium, _"Expression"_ by Helen Jane Long, _"The Middle"_ by Jimmy Eat World, _"Let's Get Together"_ by Al Green, _"In The Air Tonight"_ by Phil Collins, _"Pretty Wings"_ by Maxwell**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight neither do I not own _Monopoly_, however I do own three different versions of the board game and dearly wish I could have one of those chocolate games. Yummy!**

* * *

**Lessons of the Heart**  
By Nollie Marie

Outtake  
Bella and Edward

**Monopoly**

_Bella's POV_

I could hear the rain pelt against the window. It had been cloudy for the past week, giving the normal day a dark, and depressed feeling and making locals plead for it to rain already. It was better for it to be raining than for the clouds to just remain there.

A bright flash laminated the room followed by a rumble of deep thunder. I remember my grandmother telling me to always count the time between the lightning and thunder and that was how far away the storm was. Of course, it wasn't entirely true, but it did give me a sense of ease knowing that the lightning strike was nowhere near me.

I inhaled and closed my eyes, listening again to the rain.

I wasn't sure how long I had my eyes closed until a light rap of knuckles on the doorframe brought them open again.

"Rain against the window always brings me back to the time when I would visit my Granny down on her little Texas cattle ranch," Jasper said, holding a tray of covered food and looking at the window.

"Yeah?" I asked, curious where he was going with this story.

Jasper turned, smiling slightly at me. "There is nothing more relaxing than rain against a tin roof."

"They have tin roofs in Texas?"

Jasper laughed and walked towards me, placing the tray on the standard hospital bedside table.

"No, but Granny had this old tool shed out back, and when it rained I used to like to hide in there just to hear it," he said, swinging the table over the bed so that the food was in front of me.

I flinched at the smell of the food, feeling nauseated. Chemo would do that to a person.

"Here," Jasper said, handing me a small paper cup. I didn't need to look down at it to know that it contained anti-nausea medication.

I tipped the medication from the cup and into my mouth as Jasper poured ice water from the pitcher on my tray. I took a sip, letting the old water sit in my mouth for a moment before swallowing. Medication aftertaste was horrible, but I liked the feeling of relief the water brought sometimes.

"Try to eat, Bella," Jasper said, taking the cup from me before helping me open my juice carton. "Dr. Harper doesn't like how much weight you have lost."

"I just don't feel like eating," I whispered, eyeing the jell-o cup.

"I know, but you don't want to waste away, Bella. You can't let this cancer do that to you," Jasper said, putting down the juice carton to lay a hand down on mine resting on the bed. "You need strength to fight back or else the cancer will just win."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes to stop the sting of tears that threatened to form.

"Knock, knock."

I opened my eyes, and Jasper took a step to the side so I could see the door. Standing there, holding something behind his back was Edward, looking oddly nervous.

"Can I come in for a moment?" Edward asked, rocking slightly.

I don't recall Edward looking nervous before. He has looked arrogant, embarrassed, unsure, but never really nervous.

"Sure, I was just leaving," Jasper said. He gave me a pointed look as he lifted the lid to my plate before leaving me alone with Edward.

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked, dragging the chair that was across the room to sit down beside me.

"Not worse than yesterday, which I think is a good thing," I said, reaching for the spoon to eat some of the jell-o.

"I guess that's one way of looking at it," Edward said.

I raised an eyebrow as I noted that Edward still had his hands behind his back. Well, that, and the fact that I could see a corner of a box sticking out from over his shoulder.

"What are you up to?" I asked, tilting my head to see what he was hiding behind his back.

He twisted his torso so that whatever he had remained hidden.

"Edward?"

"So I know that you have been bored here lately, with no school work to keep you busy, TV being mind numbing, and with Chemo, so I figured I would bring you something to keep you entertained."

"Entertained?"

"Ta-da," he said, bringing the box out from behind his back.

"_Monopoly_," I said, reading the cover to the box. "You brought me _Monopoly_?"

Edward shrugged and set the box down on the bed.

"I figured I couldn't go wrong with _Monopoly_," he said.

"I haven't played _Monopoly_ in years," I said, smiling. The last time I played was with my mother, and she hated the game for some reason unknown to me.

"Neither have I, but I figured we'll master it together in no time," he said.

He looked at the table and my tray and frowned.

"Just move it to the nightstand," I said, nodding to my left where a nightstand stood.

Edward was still unsure.

"Hold on one second," he said, holding up one finger.

I watched as he left the room, leaving the box with me. I spooned another bite of the red jell-o as I eyed the box. It looked like it had never been played before, remembering how beat up that box we had at Charlie's.

As I ate the bite of jell-o, I heard a squeak that grew louder as if getting closer.

"Here we go," Edward said, rolling in another table.

He situated the table containing my tray to my right and rolled the second table before me.

"There, now you can eat and play at the same time," he said, sitting back down.

I took another bite as I watched Edward set up the board. I noted with amusement as he opened an unused packet of paper money.

"Why do I have a feeling that you haven't played _Monopoly_ on this board before?" I asked as my spoon scraped the bottom of the cup, despite the fact there was more jell-o within the cup.

Edward blushed and said, "That's because I haven't. The only _Monopoly_ boards we had in the house were British editions."

"Are you serious?" I asked. "How do you have British editions but not an American board game?"

"They were gifts from friends we had in the UK," Edward said, looking up at me as he poured the game pieces out onto the board.

"Huh," I said, looking down at my jell-o cup to eat the last few bites as he finished putting out the chance and community chest cards out.

"Pick which piece you want," Edward said, straightening the car.

I noted how he left his fingers on the piece a bit longer than he did with the other pieces. Smiling, I decided to tease Edward and pick the car.

Just like I thought, I noticed how he looked sad as I claimed the car.

"Why such the long face, Edward?" I asked, knowing already that he probably wanted the piece for himself.

"I usually got the car when Alice and I used to play," he said, even pouting somewhat.

"Well, I think you should pick something else because it's my piece now," I said, placing the car on GO!

Edward looked at the rest of the pieces before picking up the top hat.

"Okay, I thought you would pick the battleship," I said as he put down his piece.

"What? Don't think I'm a gentleman?" he said, pretending to tip an imaginary top hat in my direction.

I snorted. "You are no gentleman," I said, smiling.

"Little witch, you," he said, dividing up the money.

"Um, what are you doing?" I said, eyeing how he divided the five hundred dollar bills into two stacks and was currently doing the same with the hundred dollar bills. "We're only supposed to be getting two of each."

Edward looked up at me, a glint in his eye, as he said, "Eh, it's more fun if we have more money. This way we can't cheat by taking two of the bills instead of one."

"It is cheating by dividing up the bank," I said, but let him continue. "And why do I have the feeling you would cheat by taking two bills instead of one before?"

"I plead the fifth," he said, laughing.

"Mmhmm," I said, putting aside my empty jell-o cup.

"You should eat some more food before it gets cold," Edward said, finishing up with the lesser bills.

"Later," I said. "I'm not really hungry right now."

He gave me a look, which made me pick up my fork and spear one of the green beans on the plate.

"There," I said, chewing it. "Happy now?"

"It's a start," he said, picking up the dice. "Let's figure out who goes first."

"I figured you'd be one who always went first," I said, taking one of the dice from him.

"No, that was generally Alice who wanted to go first." Somehow, I didn't quite believe that.

Edward and I rolled the dice around in our hands, him with a little more vigor than me, and let the dice drop onto the board.

"I get to go first," Edward said when he rolled a six and I rolled a five.

We played in silence for a few moments, each playing three turns. Edward had three properties to my one railroad and one property, when, during his role of the dice he looked up at my tray.

"You haven't eaten anything, Bella, outside of the jell-o and the single green bean," he said, nudging the tray in my direction.

"I'm not hungry," I said, watching him move his piece and take New York Avenue.

He pursed his lips as I reached for the dice and rolled. I rolled a four and landed on New York Avenue.

"How about this," Edward said as I reached to pay him the rent for New York Avenue. "Instead of paying me, you eat the same number of things from your plate as the first number of what you owe me."

I groaned, "Can't you just take the money?"

He folded his arms across his chest and refused to give in. Sighing, I lifted up my fork and took the same amount of green beans as the first number of the rent.

The game continued on with both of us buying property, paying rent, or in my case, "eating" rent. After awhile, Edward pulled out his phone, actually looked up the history of _Monopoly_ on Google, and started reading me some of the history behind the game.

"Did you know that _Monopoly_ first came about in 1904 when a woman named Elizabeth Magie created the name titled 'The Landlord's Game' which was later published in 1924?

"Did you know that during World War II, the British Secret Service used the name to hide things that were useful for escaping like maps, compasses and money to POWs captured by the Nazis? Did you know that also during World War II that instead of dice, a spinner was used, because the lack of material?

"Did you know that the edition we're using has $5,440 more than the original board game when it was created?

"Did you know that Neiman Marcus created an all edible chocolate edition of _Monopoly_ that cost six hundred dollars?

"Did you know that you could buy a One-of-a-kind _Monopoly_ set for $100,000? It has things like a rosewood board, street names in gold leaf, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and real US currency. The Guinness Book of World Records, however, states that the most expensive _Monopoly_ was created for the game's 50th anniversary and is worth two million dollars."

I had to stop him after the last one. I could not believe that someone would have created a _Monopoly_ board game worth two million dollars.

Instead of listening to Edward read _Monopoly_ history, we played a game similar to twenty questions. He'd ask me a question, I would answer it, and then demand that he answer the question back. It could be anything fun or serious.

It was sometime around three in the afternoon when all the property titles were bought, and Edward and I decided to finally finish the game. Edward had to pull out his cell phone to help total up the amount of money we had in the paper cash, property titles, and hotels.

Surprisingly, I had won.

"How the hell did you win?" Edward asked, watching me flip through the stack of paper cash I had.

"Well I didn't really have to pay rent like you did when you landed on my properties," I stated, motioning to the now empty tray.

Edward shook his head.

"Knock, knock," Jasper said, poking his head into my room. "How is it going in here?"

"Bella ate all her lunch," Edward said, pointing in the direction of my tray and me.

Jasper walked into the room and picked up the tray, nodding at it with approval.

"It's good to see you with a smile, Bella," Jasper said, smiling me.

"Well it does help that I thoroughly kicked Edward's ass at _Monopoly_."

"Edward never loses at _Monopoly_," Alice said, skipping into the room.

"Hello, Alice," I said, fanning the paper money at her.

"I didn't know you were here, sister dear," Edward said, pouting slightly as Alice sat down on the edge of the bed to hug me.

"I just arrived, brother," she said, running her hand over my cheek. "It's good to see some color in your cheeks, Bella."

I glanced down at the paper I held in my hands for a moment and then at Edward. He was staring back at me, his face expressionless, though I could see an emotion swimming in his green eyes.

"Yeah, well I had a good time," I explained, staring at Edward before glancing back at Alice.

She smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back.

Today was a good day. And I needed to live each day like that.

* * *

**Okay, you have no idea how hard it is to write something when you don't have a model. I went looking for our _Monopoly_ game at home and all we have is an old British version, the Deluxe British version and the Wii version. I also want to think a NFL one but I couldn't find it. Needless to say, I had to research what an American version of the game looked like and came across some of the trivia that Edward had read in the chapter. Interesting facts, right?**

**I hope that you enjoyed reading this and thanks to all those who donated to Fandom4LLS. LLS is a good charity and the disease is particularly close to us at work since one of our co-worker's daughter is leukemia. But good news is her cancer is in remission! Yeah!**

**Huggles,  
Nollie**

**PS- Huge thank you to the Project Team Beta for editing this! I totally owe them a few cookies for being so wonderful and patient with me. As well as to IllicitWriter for creating the wonderful banner for this outtake!**

**Happy New Year!  
May it be one filled with love, joy, and happiness! **


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